Time Served
by TheHedgeRider
Summary: Nik Mikaelson was serving 25 years to life for a string of bank robberies he orchestrated. After a twist of fate results in early release, can he get back the wife and son he turned away when he went inside? Klonnie. AH AU.
1. New Year, New Me

**New Year, New Me**

He lay on his bunk, staring up at the picture taped to the bottom of the one above him. In the time he'd been locked up, he'd received very little mail. Holiday cards from loved ones...the occasional letter from his brothers or sisters...divorce papers...

He reached up, tracing her face with a fingertip. Her lawyer sent the divorce papers almost a year after he began his sentence. After he signed and returned them, he'd started receiving pictures of his son. A few times a year, every year.

Though the photos arrived with no return address, he knew she'd sent them. That's the kind of woman she was. Despite the disaster he'd made of their lives, she still wanted him to have a window into their son's life.

And so for the past seven years he'd receive photos of the boy. Learning to walk, birthdays, riding a bike, school photos...They'd all surrounded the photo above him until last night when he'd packed them away with the rest of his stuff.

But this picture he couldn't pack away. He'd taken it himself several days after she'd given birth. He'd spent the night with his crew going over the final details of their latest job and didn't get home until dawn. When he walked into their apartment, he'd found his wife sitting in her rocking chair by the large picture window in their bedroom. She held their son in her arms as he slept; the rays of dawn beginning to stream through; illuminating them both and making them seem otherworldly.

He'd travelled the world since he was a child and still he knew that he never had and never would seen anything more beautiful.

He had no choice but to grab his camera.

"Nik, man...you awake?" A voice asked from above, followed by movement and the swinging of legs over the side.

Nik's hand fell to his side. "Yep."

"Big day...you ready for it?" His cellmate jumped down from the top bunk.

"I'm always ready, Marcel. Even when it doesn't look like it," Nik answered sitting up.

"If that were true, you wouldn't have been in here for seven years," Marcel chuckled.

Nik smiled, "Touché." Originally, he'd been sentenced to the 25 year maximum for grand larceny under New York law. But his lawyer managed to get his sentenced reduced to time served on the condition he cooperated in the apprehension of a group of copycats. Shitty copycats, really.

The Night Owl robberies were a string of ten heists across the United States. Bank robberies that took place in the early morning hours at any time between 1am and 4am. The crew responsible for them were skilled, highly organized and left little to no evidence of their presence. They never hit high profile banks and only went after smaller, federally protected institutions; relieving them of anywhere between four and ten million dollars each. The feds hadn't been able to figure out how they were able to break into any of the systems, bypass the guards, break into the vaults and flee without a single shot fired.

These copycats on the other hand had left 7 dead in their wake.

Since he had been the only member of his crew apprehended after their tenth job, the feds along with his lawyer visited him with their proposal.

He knew that no one in his crew was behind these heists. They'd done as they'd agreed. After their tenth and final job, they'd taken their cut and scattered to the winds. The only evidence they were alive and safe being the holiday cards he'd receive every year. And so he had no problem helping the feds if it meant time off of his sentence. Enough time that he'd still be able to fix things and get back what he'd lost.

With his help, they were captured and as their sentences were about to begin, his own had finally come to an end.

Today...the second day of January in little more than an hour from now, he would be a free man.

Nik stood and stretched. Last night a guard returned to him the clothes he'd worn when he arrived. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep and so he'd put them on. His jeans were a little loose in the waist and his button down shirt was now tight across his chest thanks to hours upon hours dedicated to the prison workout plan.

He reached underneath Marcel's bunk and retrieved his photo, tucking it into his shirt pocket near his heart.

"Mystic Falls, Virginia," Marcel mused. "I was born and raised in the South. Been all over it. So you know the shit's small if I aint never heard of it."

"It's her hometown," Nik answered. He should have realized sooner. The last time he'd seen her had been at his sentencing. He was considered a flight risk and remained in police custody from the moment he'd been arrested. He remembered seeing the stricken look on her face; the tears that sprang forth. The officers had allowed her to go to him, her face wetting his as she cried. She'd left their son with a neighbor so she'd been alone as she watched him be escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs.

The first few months into his sentence she'd written him constantly. Letters full of hope and love that gradually turned towards confusion before morphing into desperation and eventually anger when he never responded. Finally they stopped altogether.

Ten months into his sentence, he received the divorce papers.

"So what are you going to do when you get there? You really think she'll take you back?" Marcel asked.

"My Bonnie has a stubborn streak a mile wide and spine made of steel. She gave me her heart and I threw it away. She won't give it to me again."

"So then what are you going to do?"

Nik smiled at his future former cellmate.

"What I do best, mate. I'm going to steal it."

 **BKBKBKBK**

"Henry! It's time to get up!"

The boy in question burrowed deeper beneath his blankets, covering his head with his pillow.

"Henry!" He heard several minutes later. He squeezed the pillow over his head tighter, clinging desperately to the remnants of sleep that he mother's voice was trying to chase away.

She finally walked into his room and stood at the foot of the bed.

"Henrik Rudolph Mikaelson, you get out of that bed right now or there will be problems and situations," she warned.

A grumbled groan was his only reply.

Bonnie shook her head slowly. It never failed. Getting Henry out of bed was an endurance test. He didn't sleep so much as hibernate and waking him was akin to abuse if the frowns she always got were any indication.

 _Just like his father._

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way, Henry."

" _Mama_..." Henry groaned in complaint, his voice muffled by his pillow.

" _Fine_. Hard way it is." The next instant she'd pounced on his bed, her fingers honed in on every ticklish spot within their reach. Bedding and pillows flew as the little boy tried and failed to scramble out of his mother's grasp. Peals of laughter racking his small frame.

"Get up. Get up. Get up." She chanted gravely, fighting back a grin.

When Henry finally found his feet he stood, catching his breath.

"Don't give me that look," Bonnie said, smirking at her son's adorably screwed up face. "Brush your teeth, get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. Gramps will be here soon to pick you up."

She watched as the little boy shuffled out of his room and into the bathroom, grumbling the entire time.

Bonnie busied herself with pulling out Henry's clothes for the day and setting them on his dresser before quickly making his bed.

"Ladybug!" She hears her father call from downstairs.

Rudy Bennett was filling a travel mug with coffee when Bonnie entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Daddy," Bonnie said, giving him a peck on his cheek.

"Where's that boy at?"

Bonnie looked toward the ceiling and trained her ears to the sound of Henry's light footstep, The gently creaking wooden flooring of what once was her grandmother's house telling the tale as it once had when she was his age.

"In his room getting dressed," she replied, watching as her father sipped his coffee. "And before I forget...Miss Pearl came by the shop yesterday..." She struggled to hide her smile as Rudy face scrunched up as if he'd just been sipping lemon juice.

"Make sure your daddy brings my baby by to see me tomorrow," Bonnie said, her voice taking on a nasally sing song tone.

"She aint studin that boy," Rudy grumbled.

"I know. _She's studin you,"_ Bonnie grinned impishly. "What ya gonna do about that, Dad?" She teased. It was common knowledge that Ms. Pearl Gregory had taken a shine to Rudy and had zero problem using her favorite Sunday School student as an excuse to see him.

"What I always do...make sure to take Henry fishing today."

"She's a very nice lady," Bonnie said.

"A very nice lady that doesn't miss a chance to aim for my hindparts if they're in pinching distance," Rudy huffed.

"Let's go, Gramps!" Henry called, bounding down the stairs. Bonnie handed the boy his banana, yogurt cup and juice box to have on the way along with his Batman lunchbox.

She kissed him on his chubby cheek and ruffled his strawberry blonde curls. "Be good. I'll see you tonight." She smiled as she watched him follow his grandfather out of the kitchen door into a pick up truck.

 **BKBKBKBK**

Bonnie sat in her office, her fingers flying across her keyboard as she typed a strongly worded email of complaint over the delay in the delivery of the orange blossom essence she needed for one of her best selling bath salts.

 _Miss Sheila's Place_ was a favorite for all-natural, handmade homeopathic remedies and beauty products. Bonnie's small storefront was located in "downtown" Mystic Falls and had created quite a following for itself both locally and online over the past five years.

Named after her grandmother, it referenced the routine destination suggested by everyone for any ailment.

 _Kid got sent home with lice? Send her over to Miss Sheila's place_.

 _Acne out of control? Head on over to Miss Sheila's place._

 _Baby's not sleeping? Miss Sheila's probably got something at her place._

 _Boy...if you don't get yourself over to Miss Sheila's place and do something about athlete's foot..._

Bonnie had spent most of her afternoons as a child watching with rapt attention as her Grams mixed and molded remedies in her kitchen—the ingredients for most of them found in the garden in her backyard.

Having been taught everything Sheila knew and expanding on that with her own education, she opened her little shop and filled it with every sight, scent and sound that evoked the memory of Mystic Falls' resident grandmother.

A glance at the clock and she knows that her father will be picking up Henry from school in a couple of hours.

"Miss Bonnie, I'm heading to the Grille to pick up lunch. You want anything?" Luka, her only employee, peeked through the doorway.

"Are you sure you're going to pick up lunch, or to pick up Ben?" She asked, smirking

"I don't see why I can't do both," the teenager shrugged, grinning.

"Nah I'm good. Caroline's picking me up for lunch in a bit. Make sure you take your keys because I'm locking up when she gets here."

The boy nodded and a moment later she heard the light tinkle of the windchimes at her front door as he left.

Bonnie finished her email and sent it before walking out to the showroom floor.

The holidays had been good to the shop and the New Year's sale she'd held earlier that month had been its usual success as she surveyed the number of "temporarily out of stock" boxes that had been checked off on inventory clipboard next to the cash register.

She turned to scan the assortment of essential oils displayed behind her, making note of which ones she'd need to replenish from her workshop at home.

It was then that she heard the windchimes as the door opened and the heavy footfall that followed.

"Be with you in a sec," she called over her shoulder, checking off a few more boxes.

"Hello, Bonnie."

Bonnie froze. _She knew that voice_. It had been seven years but she knew that voice. It had once been able to set her heart to fluttering with barely a word. It had been able to reach down and warm the very bottom of her soul when it spoke of love. It had broken, happy and tear-filled when he thanked her while holding their newborn son.

And as her stomach feels like it's falling into a bottomless pit, she finds that she suddenly doesn't have the breath for a coherent sentence as the gut punch of that voice shakes her.

"Nik..." She gasped.

-  
A/N: This is my first shot at AH-something I never thought I'd be interested in since I'm Adult Urban Fantasy type. But I got an idea for a short small town rom com and it wouldn't leave me so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm pretty sure that this won't be as long as my previous fic because of its relative light-heartedness, but I really hope you like it. Cheers!


	2. Bewitched

**Bewitched**

 _Nine Years Ago…_

 _Bonnie strolled down the sidewalk on her way to the bank. She'd been in Chicago for over a month now, having chosen to forgo attending Whitmore College after graduation._

 _Her father had been nothing less than disappointed._

 _It wasn't that she was disinterested in college or that she didn't want to attend her grandmother's alma mater. She just wanted to get out of the South for a while and figure out what exactly it was she wanted to do, rather than committing to four years and getting a degree in a field she probably wouldn't be interested in as a career._

 _Her cousin Lucy invited her to live in Chicago where she could at least take general ed courses at a community college while working at her uncle's restaurant. The general ed courses softened the blow for her father, but not by much._

 _Being in Chicago drove home for her just how insulated her life in Mystic Falls had been. Sure she'd been to neighboring towns like Fell's Church and she'd been as far as Richmond a few times, but nothing was like this freeway of a city. Her Uncle's restaurant stood in the center of the Loop, the city's financial district. All the noise and activity that came with skyscrapers and corporate America, flanked by the Chicago River and Lake Michigan._

 _Bennett's Bar & Grille had been around for almost fourty years, her father's older brother Aaron having ventured out of Mystic Falls after receiving an honorable discharge from the Army and setting off for Illinois._

 _Since Bonnie was only 19, she couldn't work as a bartender like Lucy, or even as a waitress. So Uncle Aaron hired her on as the hostess for the lunch and dinner shifts._

 _All she did was greet and seat patrons, take reservations and periodically sweep the dining hall to check in on customer satisfaction with the service. It meant that tips were nearly non-existent, but she also wasn't lugging around piles of plates and trying to keep everybody's order straight._

 _And now she'd just come from receiving her first full paycheck. It wasn't a fortune, but it was a lot more than what she made working at the Dairy Queen back home. Plus since Lucy insisted that she stay with her, Bonnie felt a lot better about being able to contribute to the bill in the apartment despite her cousin's insistence that she was being a "stupidhead" about it. Lucy tended bar at Bennett's from happy hour until closing three days a week, but the majority of her time was spent as a substitute teacher for the school district._

 _Bonnie's eyes widened when she entered Riverside Savings and Loan. The place was packed. She then remembered that the day was the 1_ _st_ _and just about everyone had gotten paid today too, so she sought out the end of the line and waited; tucking her earbuds in while she searched her podcast list for something to bide the time._

 _#_

 _One of the great tragedies of the world is that theft is not regarded as the art form it truly is. People focus on the visceral act and go no further. You took something that didn't belong to you and that's that._

 _People don't take into consideration all that goes on before, during and after your prize-be it a car, someone else's woman, or duffle bags full of cash—is in hand. In order for a theft to be successful, the reward must be two-pronged: the acquisition of your prize and then the removal of it undetected. Which means a great many things need to be accomplished beforehand._

 _Nik had been in Chicago for the past three months preparing for the day that he and his four partners would crack open Riverside Savings and Loan and relieve it of a considerable amount of money three months from now._

 _Today, they began the final phase of their preparation: table setting and on-the-ground reconnaissance._

 _Table setting involved Lucien currently parked in a van outside with his computer system set up; working in concert with Vincent-currently in a manhole-to disrupt this section of the city's powergrid exactly ten seconds after the levers were flipped on a hotel being demolished across town._

 _Shane was back at the warehouse they'd procured, continuing to research the bank's organizational makeup while Thierry built a workable replica of the bank's vault system; based on the schematics they'd filched earlier._

 _Reconnaissance involved Nik standing in a ridiculous line mid-day on the 1_ _st_ _to get visual logistical information. Once he finished completing his character, he would return in a month and make physical contact with the bank's personnel._

 _Considering the amount of work and skill needed to get to this point along with what was needed to complete the job and get away clean-the molding and manipulating of systems, barriers and people in order to bring about the desired result—how can this be anything other than art?_

" _Ok everybody look sharp. Hotel's down to T-minus five minutes_ _," Lucien's voice announced from Nik's earpiece._

" _Standing by," Vincent's voice answered._

 _Nik shuffled forward in line, casually making note of the number of cameras on the bank floor as well as the number of guards on duty._

 _This would be the seventh in a string of jobs they'd pulled across the country over the past few years. There would only be three more to go and then they'd quit and go their separate ways—preferably to a non-extradition country of their choosing._

 _Ten jobs were what they'd agreed to because for all the effort that may go into the art of the bank heist, just as much effort was being put into catching them. The longer they kept at it, the more likely they were to be caught. The ones who get caught usually do so by forgetting that they play with house money each time. And the house will always win if you don't know when to step away from the table._

 _Ten jobs. Ten jobs and they were out._

" _Alright ten seconds," Lucien updated._

" _Excuse me, you're holding up the line," Nik heard from a man behind him, followed by startled, "Oh! Sorry," from a husky feminine voice._

 _A second later the power was out, blanketing the bank in darkness; the only light coming from the midday sun streaming through the windows._

 _Someone bumped into him hard from behind as a cacophony of alarmed voices erupted. Instinctively, Nik reached out to the body that fell into him, his hands wrapped around a delicate pair of arms. He heard her gasp in surprise as she was jostled by people behind her causing her knees to buckle._

 _Nik tightened his grip and held her up._

 _Ten seconds later, the power was back on and he was staring into the most remarkable pair of green eyes he'd ever seen._

 _Bonnie's eyes widened in surprise as they focused on the stranger who'd caught her before she'd fallen._

" _Are you alright?" He asked, his hands sliding from her arms up to her shoulders. His brows were drawn in mild concern but his eyes…the indigo blue of them scanned her face as if trying to figure out who or what she was—as if he could find his answer if he looked deeply enough._

" _Um…yeah…I'm ok," she stammered, her eyes shifting under the intensity of his gaze. "I can't speak the rest of these guys though. Who knew so many would freak over a little blackout?" she remarked glibly. Security officers were already calling for calm in raised voices._

" _Well, unfortunately we can't all be as brave as you, love," the warm timbre of his voice washed over her and she felt her skin flush in response._

 _She'd never met let alone been this close to someone like him before. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and wore a crown of golden curls that had been brushed into thick waves. The strong lines of his jaw and chin were covered in a scruff of short blonde hairs that Bonnie instinctively wanted to rub her cheeks against. Her face grew warmer when her eyes landed on his mouth; his full lips inviting ideas that had only been discussed with her two best friends during sleepovers._

 _He was all lean muscles and tailored clothes, but it was the charisma he exuded that made her feel like a bead of moisture on hot pan. It drew her in like a moth to the obligatory flame; promising to singe her while also promising that it would be worth it._

 _Bonnie shook herself from her thoughts and finally met his gaze; only to be distracted again when he revealed a dimple in each cheek._

 _There were plenty of cute guys back home but this…_

 _Nik kept his eyes on her as she stepped away from his grasp, busying her hands with straightening her clothes unnecessarily._

 _It's a known fact that Nik enjoyed the company of women, seeing them as intricate and potentially dangerous as any job. However, the currently skittish girl standing in front of him brought managed to pull an involuntary smile out of him…if albeit a small one._

 _She had to be in her late teens or early twenties, he surmised. But a glance at her body—clad simply in fitted black uniform shirt bearing the letters BBG in an intricate logo on her breast and a black pencil skirt that highlighted a small waist and beautifully flaring hips; while revealing the shapely lines of her legs—put a library's worth of ideas into his head._

 _Ideas that would surely send some overprotective father running with his shotgun in hand._

 _But it was her eyes that caught him and made him drown out the sound of Lucien confirming their breach of the bank's firewall. They made him ignore the hacker's instructions to leave now while the confusion caused by the blackout still reigned. The fact that the van was now three minutes away from picking him up barely even registered._

 _Neither did the cardinal rules that one should never linger when casing a place and never do anything that created an impression in anyone's mind.s_

 _But what did register were full, bow-shaped lips that smiled shyly amidst asymmetrical features. Soft golden brown skin that brought an itch to his fingertips. The faint scent of lemongrass that clung to the chocolate brown curls of her hair._

 _There were plenty of stories written about otherworldly creatures who lured the unsuspecting to their demise-sirens, mermaids and fairies among them. But this one…this one was a witch. She had to be. For despite the nervousness in her mannerism, there was a small glint of not only steel but mischief in her eyes and it warred with her obvious naiveté. And with barely a few words, those eyes had woven a spell that insisted that he not let her step too far away._

" _Nik what the hell are you doing?! I'm sixty seconds out!_ _" Lucien hissed in his ear._

" _Well, thanks for the save. I'd have fallen flat on my face without you, Mr…?" He heard her ask._

" _Nik. My name's Nik."_

" _Hi Nik. I'm Bonnie," she answered, extending her hand._

" _Nice to meet you, Bonnie," he said, as his hand engulfed hers._

" _Nice to meet you too," she replied, the warmth of his hand doing nothing to cool the burning in her cheeks._

" _Fifteen seconds_ _!"_

" _Well Bonnie, this line has managed to take up more time than I planned, so I'd better be going." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it._

" _Yeah I know. But it was nice meeting you too, Nik. Have a nice day."_

" _I'm sure you've already guaranteed that, love," he answered before stepping out of line and heading for the sliding doors. He looked back once and found Bonnie peeking her head around in his direction before he strode outside; Lucien's van barely coming to a stop before he climbed in._

" _What the hell was that, man?" Lucien demanded as they drove off._

" _Nothing," Nik replied tersely, reaching into the glove compartment. He pulled out a pen and small notepad._

 _He rode in silence as Lucien continued on about the virus he'd used to infect the bank's security system; his pen moving quickly across the notepad. When they finally came to a stop at a red light, Nik rolled down his window and motioned to a woman stopped in the lane next to them._

" _Excuse me, love," he began, "have you ever seen this logo?" He held up the notepad, displaying a sketch of the logo he'd spied on Bonnie's shirt._

 _The woman squinted to get a better look. "Oh yeah…that's from the Bennett Grille." She eyed him appreciatively. "Buy me a drink and I'll tell you where to find it."_

 _At that moment, the light changed and Lucien started driving._

" _Raincheck, love." He called after her._

 **BKBKBKBK**

When Nik rode into Mystic Falls for the first time, it was confirmed for him that of course this was the kind of place where Bonnie would have been born and raised.

The idyllic little town milled about as lazily as a junebug, the environment already beginning to shrug off the embrace of winter. The rumble of his motorcycle seemed out of place amidst the relative quiet.

He continued on until he reached the address he sought and made his way up a long winding driveway to a small Bed & Breakfast and parked.

The large pristine farmhouse sat on an acre of land with apple and peach trees speckling the property. His boots thudded heavily as he walked up the front stairs and onto the wraparound porch; a porch swing swaying gently in the midday breeze.

He entered and made his way to the front desk and light struck the bell atop it.

A moment later, a woman wearing a silk caftan in varying shades of blue breezed in.

"Welcome to the Gregory Inn, how can I help you?" There was a bit of a nasally tone to her voice that would have been unpleasant were it not her light southern drawl and the musical lilt in her cadence. She wore several strings of pearls— _real ones_ —around her neck as well as a pearl ring on one of her index fingers.

If he had to guess, he would place her in her late 60s-although the impish twinkle in her light brown eyes said her spirit considered itself a much younger. From the salt and pepper pixie cut atop her head to the deep set laugh lines in her walnut brown skin, Nik knew straight away that this one was a handful. The jewel encrusted brooch she wore bore the name Pearl.

"Hi, I just got into town and was hoping to rent a room for a while," Nik answered.

The woman tilted her head, "A while? Well what's a while?"

"Indefinitely might be better way to put it then," Nik said.

"Well sweetheart I don't do indefinitely. We have a three-month max on lodgings. If you're staying in Mystic Falls longer than three months, then you should probably put down roots…just not in my house."

Nik chuckled, "Alright, I'll be here for three months then."

"A three month stay requires a one month deposit," she warned.

"That's won't be a problem," he answered, reaching for his wallet.

The woman's eyes narrowed as she sized him up. "Standard rate is $120 a night. You're looking at $3600 deposit, and that's not including tax."

Nik nodded as he placed a credit card and his I.D in front of her.

She picked up the Amex black card and eyed it suspiciously before turning her gaze to his I.D.

"Niklaus Mikaelson," she slowly read aloud. "Well ain't that a mouthful…"

"Everyone calls me Nik."

"Well, I'm Pearl Gregory and everyone calls me Ms. Pearl." He watched as her eyes darted back to his I.D. card.

"So what are you doing in town, Nik?" She asked, continuing the transaction.

"I'm meeting an old friend," he answered, signing the receipt where she indicated.

"Really…and how long's it been since you see em last?"

"I'd say it's been about seven years."

"Mmhm," Pearl muttered tersely as she quickly finished putting together his reservation package before placing it in her file. She moved from around the desk and motioned for him to follow her.

"Now we have a small cooking staff so we do provide breakfast every morning between 7 and 10," she began as they ascended the stairs. "We also serve tea at the appropriate time and I have been known to throw together an impromptu cocktail party. The house rules are simple: No drugs, no roughhousing, no loud music all hours of the night, understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Nik agreed as she opened the door to him room and ushered him in

"If you're a smoker, we ask that you do that outside because this place is also an historical landmark and there are still quite a few original features, particularly the wallpaper."

"I don't smoke." He murmured, scanning the room. The country French décor didn't suit him at all, but the bed was king-sized, it had its own bathroom, and there was a small sitting area. Next to a small writing desk was an entertainment center.

"Well good, those things will kill you. Now the rooms are cleaned daily and we do have provide laundry service, but that's at an additional charge. Otherwise you can go down to the Dime n Suds off of Cole Avenue.

Nik walked into the bathroom and inspected the medicine cabinet.

"You've got complimentary toiletries but those won't last but a day or two so you'll want to head down to the Piggly Wiggly on Main St. to stock up," he heard Pearl say.

He was about to exit the bathroom when his eyes landed on the fresh bar of soap resting in a dish on the sink. He picked it up and inhaled; his eyes closing involuntarily in recognition.

"This smells wonderful. Where did you get it?" Nik asked, holding up the soap as he returned to the bedroom.

Pearl folded her arms across her bosom and assessed the man in front of her.

This man popped up out of nowhere, with money to spend, no plans on leaving and bearing the last name of one of her favorite Sunday school students. And now he's asking about a product handmade by the mother of that very same student. It didn't take long for her figure out that this curly haired dimpled devil was Henry Mikaelson's father. The very same father that his mother never spoke of to anyone, as far as she knew.

"You said you're visiting an old friend. Anyone I know? Bearing in mind that this is a small town and there isn't anyone that I don't know…except you."

"Bonnie Bennett…and I suspect she made this soap."

Pearl nodded, "She certainly did. Now how do you know Bonnie?"

Nik had been in enough interrogations to know that the elderly woman had already figured out who he was and was now on a fishing expedition to discover why he was there.

He thinks back on his last conversation with Marcel before leaving prison.

" _Now look, Nik. Small towns move at a different pace and operate by different rules. If getting your woman back is the job, then you're gonna need a crew," Marcel explained._

 _Nik laughed at the idea. "A crew?"_

" _Yep. And the first thing you'll need are information specialists…also known as old people."_

 _That only made him laugh harder._

" _You think I'm bullshitting but I'm not," Marcel insisted. "Old folks are hooked into everything because they know everybody and spend most of their time gossiping about them. Get you some old folks on your side, man."_

"She's my ex-wife," he said simply, removing his motorcycle jacket and tossing it onto the bed. The black tank he wore underneath revealed full sleeves of tattoos on his well-muscled arms. He sat on the edge of the bed and clasped his hands between his knees.

Pearl's eyes widened, as they fell on the wedding band he wore on his finger. When Bonnie moved back home after spending two years in Chicago, everyone just assumed she'd gone up there, gotten duped by some loser into surrendering her virtue and came home with nothing but a baby and broken heart to show for it. In fact she never spoke of her time in the city other than to say that she was glad to be home.

But now this man was saying they'd been married. _Did Rudy know?_ If he did he never let on about. Little Bonnie was keeping an ex-husband under wraps. A volcano of questions erupted in Pearl's brain at the discovery.

"She divorced you?" The older woman asked.

"Yes."

"She have a good reason?"

"Yes."

Pearl's eyes narrowed. "Does she _still_ have a good reason?"

Nik prided himself on his ability to read people and the chapter and verse of Bonnie was one he'd committed to memory long ago. She divorced him because he'd abandoned her. It pained him to do it; to shun his wife and son. But when you're staring down the barrel of 25 years to life in a federal prison, the last thing you want to do is drag them along for the ride. He wanted them to live and thrive and he'd made arrangements for them to do so. He just needed her to let go.

He knew his rejection would lead to divorce and he was relieved-in part-the day the papers arrived.

But now…Now that that he was free there was still time. Time to make her understand that hurting her had been akin to tearing off his own limb. Time to tell her that not once had he stopped loving her. That not a day had gone by where the loss of her and their son didn't drive him to pound the walls of his cell until his hands bled. That the first thing he'd done when his personal effects were returned to him was slip the wedding band she'd given him back onto his finger.

"No," he answered quietly. "Not anymore. Never again."

Pearl stood quietly, observing him; for she too prided herself on being able to read people.

"Bonnie owns a shop called _Ms. Sheila's Place_ over on Lockwood Avenue. That's where I got the soap.

Nik was grabbing his jacket and on his feet a second later, when Pearl stopped him.

"Don't ever make me regret telling you that because I've known that girl her whole life and I've known her family even longer than that, understand?"

"I won't," Nik answered, standing again.

"Good. Because I'm also a card carrying member of the Mystic Falls Gun Club, if you get my meaning."

#

When he walked through the front door of _Ms. Sheila's Place_ , he hadn't expected to find Bonnie simply standing there with her back to him, carefully inspecting her wares. The image in his mind of their reunion bore no resemblance to the weight that was carried along the simple greeting he'd given her. Nor did it account for the way her shoulders tensed at the sound of his voice, or the gasp she'd made of his name as if she'd just been struck.

He waited for her to face him, but she held herself still.

"Turn around, little witch," he coaxed softly.

Bonnie steeled herself as her mind tried to recover from the initial shock, the pang from the use of a nickname she hadn't heard in years making it just that much worse. _What the hell was he doing here_?

When she continued to stand with her back to him, he began to wonder if she meant for him to never see her face again…literally.

Finally, he heard her breathe deeply before she turned to face him.

Though she'd schooled her features to remain impassive, her eyes were hard like diamonds. He felt that hardness start to extend itself outward, hastily building a siege wall between them that she likely never thought she'd need.

"Hello, Nik," she answered quietly.

"How have you been? He asked, stepping forward. "Where's the baby?"

"I'm fine. And he's not a baby, he's a little boy. Little boys tend to be in school this time of day." The mention of Henry made her insides tremble in a blanket of ice. _He couldn't be here right now_. There was no way he could be here. Maybe she'd inhaled too much mugwort last night while making incense.

Because if he was here right now; if he was here asking about her…about Henry, then there would be more questions. Not just from him but from her father… _from her son_ … _from her friends_ … _from everyone._ Questions that his prison sentence should have guaranteed she'd never have to answer.

Nik nodded, absorbing her words. "I was hoping that we could go someone and talk."

 _Talk. He wants to talk. He didn't want to talk during the trial. He didn't want to talk during the sentencing. He didn't want to talk when she wrote and called and tried to visit. He didn't want to talk except to lie to her for_ _two fucking years_ _about who he was and what he'd really been doing. But now…now wants to talk?!_

The front door opened at that moment and a tall blonde rushed in.

"Bon, I'm starving let's go and…" she stopped short, having been smacked in the face by the amount of tension in the room. Her eyes darted to Bonnie, the blueness of them filled with an unspoken question:

 _Are you okay?_

Bonnie pursed her lips and nodded. "Caroline, this is Nik. Nik this is my friend Caroline."

Caroline's eyes narrowed, taking the man whose name she never heard before.

"How do you do? And how do you know Bonnie?" Normally she would at least try not to be so blunt, but if this man was the reason why her best friend looked like she wanted to run and let her body catch up with her, then dammit she wanted to know why. Now.

"I'm-"

"He's someone I used to know," Bonnie finished quietly.

The blonde's eyes continued to shift between the two, completely unsatisfied with that answer.

"Care, can we do this tomorrow instead? I've got stuff I need to take care of," Bonnie asked, sighing. He had only been there for ten minutes at most and she suddenly felt so tired.

"Yeah…" Caroline answered hesitantly. "Sure. Lunch is around the same time everyday anyway, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Nik responded, his eyes never leaving Bonnie.

Caroline reached across the front counter and hugged her friend.

"Call me," she whispered before turning to leave.

Bonnie watched her go before turning back to her ex-husband.

"I need to lock up, but I know a place we can go. Meet me outside and I'll get my truck so you can follow me," she said brusquely before turning away again.

Seeing the obvious end to a conversation that had never actually started, Nik nodded and headed outside.

Minutes later, he saw her behind the wheel of an old pickup truck waving for him to follow her. He rode behind as she drove through town; past the Piggly Wiggly, past Gregory's Inn, past the Dime n Suds and past the large sign on the sign of the road that read:

"Thank you for visiting Mystic Falls! Come back soon!"

A/N: Don't ask me how I got this update out so fast because I swear I don't know LOL. Thank you guys for your interest in this fic. Klaus is gonna have to put in some work if he's gonna get our Bonnie back. I look forward to introducing your guys to my version of the Mystic Falls gang.

Also, I've been catching up on my fic reading (still have tons more to do) and I have to recommend the following Klonnie fics because they're all so different and awesome:

Some Other Way (to tell you you're okay) by Anastasia-G

A Mate for a Throne by Lilac17

A Longing like Despair by the fudge is grumpy.


	3. Questions and Answers

**Questions and Answers**

 _Nine Years Ago..._

 _Bonnie sat at her station, eyes scanning her computer monitor. Tonight was a busy night at Bennett's, but then the weekends usually were. Every Friday evening meant office buildings around The Loop emptied as business suits invaded anyplace that served a decent martini._

 _It had been a long day. A long week actually. The sensory overload that comes with working in the service industry was beginning to take its toll. Too many people, too much noise and too many requests...It was all a bit overwhelming. Which is why either Lucy or one of the other bartenders always managed to sneak just a little bit of rum into her Coke._

 _The dinner crowd started to thin out, making room for late night clubgoers looking for a place to wind down before heading to their final destinations._

 _Bonnie raised her eyes at the sound of the door opening only to have them widened at the sight of the guy she'd met at the bank a few days earlier._

Nik _._

 _He entered along with a couple and she quickly plastered a smile to her face to keep it from falling when she saw the tall, beautiful redhead on his arm. She looked like she just stepped off a runway in Milan. Perfect hair, perfect body, perfectly long legs that went on forever and a perfectly bored expression on her perfectly sculpted face._

Figures _._

 _She reached for the appropriate number of menus when they came to stand before their station._

" _My, isn't this a small world?" Nik pondered as he greeted her. She was just as lovely as he remembered, perhaps even more so as a smile lit up her face and made those astonishing eye sparkle._

" _Chicago's not as big as it seems, I guess," Bonnie shrugged, hugging the menus to her body._

" _She's the one who tried to tackle me at the bank the other day," Nik explained to his companions._

" _I most certainly did not," Bonnie gasped in mock outrage, her eyes wide. "I stumbled into you and not of my own volition."_

" _Tomato, tomahto," he replied, waving a hand dismissively as he revealed the dimples she'd thought about more than once over the past few days._

" _More like, you shouldn't confuse fantasy with reality," Bonnie huffed._

" _Ah, but it's so much more fun, love," Nik answered smoothly, watching a blush bloom in her cheeks._

" _Um…we'd like a table…now," the woman on his arm interrupted finally, her bored expression gone and replaced with one of irritation and suspicion._

" _Right," Bonnie agreed, "This way, please."_

 _As he watched her move from behind her station, Nik made a mental note to send Angela on her way sooner rather later. He'd met the redhead at a club a few hours earlier and had every intention of taking her home and enjoying himself before never seeing her again. But that plan died a very quick death the moment the cab they'd all been riding in, turned onto Lakeshore and he spotted the green awning of Bennett's Bar & Grill. _

_There was no guarantee that the girl who'd lingered in his thoughts for the past few days would even be there. But the possibility was enough for him to both convince Lucien that they should stop in for drinks and to all but forget that Angela was next to him—the latter being an impressive feat given how tightly she'd clung to him for most of their evening._

 _And now that Bonnie was in front of him, leading them all to their table-giving him an uninterrupted view of her body wrapped in a little black sleeveless dress that hugged every luscious curve and revealed graceful shoulders and the golden brown of her skin—he finds that he has to bite back the urge to demand to speak to the manager and pay for the opportunity to toss everyone out in order to spend the next few hours puzzling her out._

" _Here you go," Bonnie began, gesturing towards their table and laying out their menus. "Someone will be along shortly to take your order."_

" _If they aren't I'm going to come looking for you, love," Nik warned, smirking._

 _He was rewarded with another blush as she moved away from their table and made a beeline for the bar._

 _#_

" _What the hell's got you all a-flutter?" Lucy asked, setting a glass in front of her._

" _You know that guy at the bank I told you about?" Bonnie asked, keeping her voice low._

" _Yeah?"_

" _I just seated him. The blonde."_

 _Lucy glanced over Bonnie's shoulder inconspicuously. "Damn, Cuz…" she muttered, impressed. "You gonna get his number?"_

" _Um…no…did you miss the obnoxiously hot woman draped all over him?"_

" _Pffft. Her? That's not his girlfriend. Hell that's not even his date." Lucy turned away momentarily to fill in order._

" _Then what is she?"_

" _Arm candy…and not very good arm candy, at that," her cousin surmised._

" _How do you know?"_

" _Because if she had even an ounce of self-awareness she'd realize that there's no way in hell she's gonna see that guy ever again."_

" _But how do you know that?"_

" _Because I'm a teacher by day and a bartender at night. You have to have understanding of human behavior to do well in either. That…and the fact that in the few minutes you've been standing here, his eyes have landed on you six—make that seven—times. And it's happened despite the obnoxiously hot woman draped all over him. He's only got eyes for you, kid."_

 _The very idea set off a riot of butterflies in her stomach. She had little to no experience with something like this. She wasn't the social butterfly that Caroline was; able to demand and reject attention with the ease of flipping a light switch. Nor was she Elena; a perfect ingénue whose charisma managed to tug at the heartstrings of every guy in town._

 _No, she was Bonnie Bennet; quietly earnest but still easy-going. The girl no other girl ever worried about. The girl who'd managed to become_ _really good friends_ _with the hottest guys in school and yet her first boyfriend had been Elena's brother Jeremy._

" _So are you gonna get his number?" Lucy asked._

 _Bonnie chewed on her lip. "I don't know…I mean doesn't he seem…older?"_

 _Lucy took another look. "By eight to ten years at least."_

" _Do you think I should? I mean eight to ten years is grown ass man territory."_

" _Newsflash, Bonnie: You're grown too. You don't live at home. You have a job and you pay your own bills. You can also vote, buy property and get married."_

" _Yeah but I'm not old enough to be taken out for drinks, let alone rent a car," Bonnie pointed out glumly._

 _Lucy sighed as she poured herself a shot of tequila. "Look…I'm not the person to ask about whether you shouldn't do something. I'm not your best friend or your dad or my parents. I'm your cousin. And my sole responsibility to you is to talk you into shit and to get you out of it when necessary."_

" _Gee, thanks," Bonnie said, chuckling._

" _I'm not kidding. He's hot, he's interested and he clearly has the means to show you a really great night on the town at the very least. You are young, gorgeous and in possession of not only a concealed carry license and the gun to go with it; but also access to your cousin's stash of condoms and morning after pills. Live a little."_

" _Oh my god…" Bonnie groaned covering her face with her hands as her stomach continued to flop about frantically._

" _So are you gonna get his number or not?"_

 _This was why she'd moved to Chicago in the first place. Not to try and pick up guys, per se…but to experience life in a bigger way than she had. To be bold and daring instead of the sensible shepherd who tended the bold and daring. Here was a chance to test out her resolve._

" _No…" she answered finally, a small smile playing on her lips. "But that doesn't mean I won't give him mine."_

 _Lucy reached across the bar and hugged Bonnie around the neck._

" _Aww! We are blood after all," she laughed._

 _#_

 _Nik sipped his drink as he discreetly watched Bonnie move away from the bar. While he didn't know the specifics of her conversation with the bartender, her body language, along with the bartender's practiced casual glances in his direction gave him an idea of the subject._

 _His eyes followed her, allowing her to catch his gaze when she turned her head and flashed a small smile before heading back to her station._

" _What's the matter?" Lucien asked._

" _Nothing," Nik murmured in answer. "But I think I may owe that bartender a drink."_

 _They continued on for several more rounds before finally calling for the check. In that time, he'd observed Bonnie as she went around from table to table, chatting easily with patrons about the service; an easy smile and genuine laugh always making an appearance at some point._

 _Their waiter dropped the leather wallet containing the check onto the table. Lucien picked it up and opened it; and raising as he scanned its contents before closing it again and tapping Nik's shoulder with it._

" _You said tonight was on you," Nik reminded him._

" _Oh I think you're gonna want to pick this one up."_

 _Nik took the wallet and opened it. A slow smile began to form when he spied the small piece of paper bearing Bonnie's name and phone number._

 _He tucked the paper into his shirt pocket before pulling out his cell phone._

" _What are you doing?" Lucien asked._

" _Calling Angela a cab," he answered matter-of-factly, ignoring the offended gasp of the woman next to him._

 _#_

 _Bonnie looked up from her station at the sound of Nik and Angela's approach. He held her firmly by the elbow as he made his way to the front door. The redhead hissed out words that Bonnie couldn't make out and glared in her direction. They were out the door before she could even react to the venom in the woman's brown eyes.._

 _Minutes later, Nik stepped through the front door and smiled._

" _Sorry about that," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets._

 _Bonnie frowned, "Was it something I did?"_

" _Actually, yes. You managed to steal my attention away from her."_

" _But I didn't do anything." Bonnie blinked owlishly. Sure she'd slipped him her number, but she doubted the woman knew about that._

" _I know…which makes the offense that much worse considering Angela's spent the past couple of hours failing to get it back. I suppose I'd be pissed too if I were her."_

 _He stepped closer to her as she continued to sit at her station and removed the piece of paper from his pocket._

" _If this was intended for Lucien, speak now or forever hold your peace," he said, waving the paper at her._

" _It wasn't," she answered, lifting her chin defiantly even as she felt her face begin to redden._

 _Nik leaned forward, hovering along the fringes of her personal space and making her breath catch in her throat._

" _There's a 24-hour coffee shop down the street. Have a cup with me?"_

" _Um…my shift isn't over for another half hour," Bonnie stammered as her heart picked up speed._

 _Nik smiled as he watched her vacillate between being bold and being flustered. She was adorable in either state, but the speed with which she moved from one to the other warmed him in a most peculiar way._

" _I'll take that as a yes and I'll see you there," he replied smoothly before giving her one final look and leaving._

 _Bonnie waited for the door to close behind him before she hopped off her chair. She waited a few seconds to see if he'd return before she covered her mouth with both hands and squealed as quietly as she could; her heels tapping against the floor as she danced in a tiny circle._

 _#_

 _Forty-five minutes later and Nik was standing next to a booth as Bonnie entered. He smirked at the bright red trench coat she wore, for at no other time in his life had he felt more like the Big Bad Wolf._

 _He sat as Bonnie slid into the booth and faced him._

" _So…how was your day?" Nik asked, grinning._

" _Pretty boring up until a couple of hours ago," Bonnie grinned in return._

 _After he ordered another coffee for himself and one for her, Nik retrieved Bonnie's number again from his pocket._

" _Why did you give me this?" He asked as his fingers played with the scrap of paper._

" _I…I was curious," Bonnie answered as a waitress set their cups down and she reached for the cream and sugar._

" _About what?"_

" _About everything, I guess," Bonnie shrugged. "What you would say or wouldn't say; what you would do or wouldn't do."_

" _Curiosity killed the cat, love," Nik reminded her._

" _Yeah…but satisfaction brought her back," Bonnie replied easily, before her face registered the implication and she gasped at her own double entendre._

" _Indeed it did," he agreed, his eyes letting her know that he'd followed her train of thought exactly._

 _Why did you send Angela away?" Bonnie asked._

" _It's like you said…I was curious," Nik replied before taking a sip from his cup._

 _Bonnie snorted, "There isn't a whole lot to be curious about when it comes to me."_

" _Let me be the judge of that, love."_

 _Bonnie mentally kicked herself for blushing for what had to be the umpteenth time since he walked into Bennett's._

" _Ok…shoot," Bonnie offered as she shrugged off her coat and waited._

" _Alright. How long have you worked at Bennett's?"_

" _I started there not long after I moved here so…a little over a month, I guess."_

" _A recent transplant. From where?"_

" _Virginia. Mystic Falls, Virginia."_

 _Nik snorted, "Sounds like the perfect location for a Stephen King novel."_

" _It is in a lot of ways," Bonnie chuckled. "It's a small town where everybody knows everybody and talks about everybody, while still getting the sense that they'll all pitch in to hide the body if they haven't done it already."_

" _Sounds idyllic," Nik mused. "Why did you leave?"_

" _Mystic Falls is a sleepy little town. It moves at a really slow pace right along with the towns near it. I guess I just wanted to try life at a different speed."_

" _I can understand that. Familiarity tends to breed contempt."_

 _Bonnie nodded, sipping her coffee. "Not only that but people tend to not make it out of Mystic Falls, or even want to. It's all they know and all they want to know."_

" _And you want to know more."_

 _Nik watched as Bonnie's eyes lit up with visions of possibilities that extended beyond the boundaries of Virginia as she nodded, her raw exuberance causing him to smile._

" _My turn," she announced finally._

 _Nik leaned back and folded his hands across his chest. "Alright…shoot."_

" _How long have you lived in Chicago?"_

" _About three months. I travel between England and the states fairly regularly."_

" _Why?"_

" _My parents left my brothers and sisters and I several businesses as part of our inheritance. I don't really care about the ones I received but, I do have to have to stay abreast of how they're functioning." It wasn't a total lie. He had inherited several companies from Esther and Mikael Mikaelson, but those companies had boards of directors and were run so efficiently that he was only required to make appearances during their annual meetings._

" _If you don't care about them, then what do you care about?"_

" _Art," Nik answered simply._

 _Bonnie's eyes widened as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table; her hands clasped beneath her chin. "Really? What medium?"_

 _Nik leaned forward and mimicked her, "I appreciate all of them, but personally I enjoy sculpting and painting."_

" _Are you any good?"_

" _Yes. I'm quite good," he smirked._

 _Bonnie snorted before rolling her eyes. "Modest much?"_

" _No," Nik replied, flashing an impish smile "When you know what you're capable of, there's no point in being shy about it. A pretense at modesty only benefits those less skilled."_

 _Bonnie's mouth dropped open at the matter-of-factness of his statement._

" _Um…I don't know what to say to that," she said laughingly._

" _I can render you speechless," Nik teased. "This bodes well."_

 _#_

 _They sat and talked for another hour, trading information about one another. He spoke four languages fluently and played piano, guitar and violin. She studied dance for ten years and spoke knowledgeably about the medicinal properties of plants. She charmed him with her self-deprecating humor while he kept her laughing with his dry wit._

 _When he caught her trying to stifle a yawn, he paid the check and walked with her down the street. Once he realized they were headed in the direction of the train station, he stopped and pulled out his cell phone._

" _What are you doing?"_

" _Calling you a cab. And don't attempt to complain about how you've been riding public transit at two in the morning for weeks now and don't need anyone to intervene on your behalf."_

" _Oh I wasn't going to complain. Shoot…the train probably smells like urine right about now."_

 _Nik chuckled at that before taking her hands in his own._

" _Have dinner with me," as he gazed down at her._

" _Still curious, huh?"_

" _Absolutely," Nik replied._

 _Bonnie raised her eyes and met his gaze._

" _Me too."_

 **BKBKBKBK**

Nik followed as he watched Bonnie's truck pull into the graveled parking lot of The Lazy Daisy.

They'd left Mystic Falls an hour ago, driving into a town called Fell's Church before she finally stopped at the small coffee shop.

When they were seated, she quietly ordered a cup of coffee. He ordered the same as he watched her gather her thoughts.

"You look good," He said finally. "How have you been?"

Bonnie was already shaking her head. "No. Nononononono. After seven years of no answers, _I_ get the first question." Her eyes were hard and her mouth was tight as her jaw ticked from the tension she held.

"That's fair," he agreed, nodding.

After a waitress dropped off their coffee and left, Bonnie spoke.

"Is there any reason for federal marshals to show up at my house one day asking about you?"

Nik frowned, "What? No…I didn't escape from prison, Bonnie. I earned an early release." Her question caught him off guard. Did she really think that he would be willing to put her and their son in danger?

"I'm sorry if my question hurts your feelings, but since I've already experienced the thrill of having law enforcement burst into my home to scare the shit out of me and my child looking for you, I think it's more than appropriate to ask," Bonnie gritted out, seeing his thoughts reflected on his face.

Nik closed his eyes against the picture she'd drawn with her words.

"Again…that's fair."

"What are you doing here, Nik?"

"I wanted to see you and Henry and perhaps…"

"You're seeing me right now. Whether or not you see Henry depends entirely on what you want."

"I'm his father, Bonnie. I want to _be_ his father."

"But what does that mean to you, Nik? Are you moving to Virginia? Or some new big city? I'm assuming you have a parole officer so England or wherever the fuck you came from isn't going to be an option for a while. So what is it? What are your intentions towards my son?"

" _Our_ son, Bonnie."

" _Answer the question_."

"I've put down a deposit for a three-month stay at the Gregory Inn. I'm hoping that in that time I can spend time with Henry getting to know him and giving him a chance to know me. I've missed so many years his life that now I just want to figure out how best to be in his life from here on out."

It was the truth, if not the whole truth. Building a relationship with his son was of utmost importance. But getting Bonnie back was necessary; both to his heart and to the life he wanted shape with both of them.

But based on the daggers her eyes were throwing at him and the white knuckled grip she had on her coffee cup, he figured that it was probably best he not mention that at the moment.

Bonnie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply, the amount of tension in her shoulders was beginning to make everything ache.

"I know you love Henry. I know that. You may have lied about everything else, but I don't believe you're capable of lying about that. Nor would I ever keep Henry from having you in his life."

He watched as she leaned forward on her elbows; the daggers of her eyes now illuminated by hellfire. Her voice dangerously low as she glared at him.

"Now you mind me, Niklaus Mikaelson: If that is what you want, then you need to be 100% sure before we start this because I will _not_ allow you to break him. You did it to me once…I won't let you do it to him. Understand?"

"I'm all in, Bonnie. One hundred percent," he replied, meeting her glare with resolve.

Bonnie continued to search his eyes for anything to the contrary before she leaned back and fished money out of her pocket.

"Alright. I'll talk to Henry. And then maybe we can see about having you over for dinner Friday."

Nik watched her as she put the money for her coffee on the table. This was not the wide-eyed nineteen year old he'd met at a bank one breezy autumn day. This was not the woman who loved him with her whole heart and showed him every day.

Despite knowing that—despite knowing that whatever ways in which she's changed over the years were facilitated by the damage he'd caused to their lives—his mind latches on to one truth that will never change:

He is as drawn to her as he's ever been. The simple act of her drawing breath, makes him long to touch her even for a moment.

Even wrapped head to toe in razor wire as she is now, he would gladly shred his hands bloody just to reach her. To have her stop looking at him like he was the worst mistake she'd ever made in her life.

Bonnie slid out of the booth; about to leave as quickly as she can when she feels his hand wrap gently around her wrist, stopping her.

"I didn't lie about everything, Bonnie," he said softly, willing her to meet his gaze.

"I assume you were paying attention on our way here," she said flatly, extricating herself from his grasp. "So you shouldn't have a problem finding your way back."

A moment later and she was out the door and climbing into her truck; only the crunch of gravel and plumes of dust left in her wake.

#

A few miles later, Bonnie pulled over to the side of the road and parked. She gripped the steering wheel hard as she struggled to breathe. The knot in her throat that she'd managed to swallow every hour of every day for seven years was back and she couldn't dislodge it. The broken shards of her heart that she'd hurriedly pieced together in order to survive were aching again. If she didn't get a hold of herself she'd fall apart just as she had back then.

But she couldn't do that. Instead she'd wrap the wounds Nik's presence reopened with the same gauze she'd used when they were first inflicted; the mantra that made her able to put one foot in front of the other:

 _Henry is all that matters. Henry is all that matters. Henry is all that matters._

She repeated it over and over in her mind, letting it ease the knot from her throat and back down to the pit of her stomach. It dulled the pain in her heart as panicked gasps became deep measured breaths.

When she was certain she could open her eyes without a single tear falling, she turned the ignition and reached for her cell phone. She hit the speed dial as she turn onto the road and headed for home.

When the voice on the other end of the line picked up, she said the only two words she needed to say:

"Confab. Tonight."

 **BKBKBKBK**

Elena Gilbert-Salvatore knocked lightly on Bonnie's front door. When there was no answer, she leaned over the porch railing to take a look at the second floor windows. Based on the reflections of solar systems coming from Henry's window, she knew that her godson's galaxy nightlight was on and that he was sleeping, or at least pretending to.

She knocked again before she gave up and stepped off the porch, making her way to the backyard; a bottle of wine in each hand. She stopped short when she saw lights coming from the treehouse nestled amidst a massive oak tree.

"Oh boy…" she muttered warily as she took off her heels and padded across the soft grass.

At the base of the tree, she spied Bonnie's favorite pair of sneakers next to a pair of pink high heeled boots that could only belong to Caroline.

She dropped her shoes next to theirs and reached out towards a flat piece of wood that had been nailed to the tree's trunk almost twenty years ago. She gave two sharp knocks before counting to five and giving three more in quick succession.

A trap door swung open above as Bonnie and Caroline peered down.

"Ok, whatever it is," Elena said, "it can't possibly be bad enough for the treehouse."

With the help of Elena's father, the treehouse had been built in Ms. Sheila's yard the summer they were eight years old.

Their favorite hiding place had faithfully kept their secrets and dreams for most of their lives, having been repaired and reinforced as they grew, before finally being passed on to Henry last summer.

"Oh, yes it is," Bonnie answered before dropping down a rope ladder for her friend to climb.

Reaching up, Elena passed the wine bottles to Caroline before scaling the ladder and lifting herself through the trap door.

Bonnie and Caroline scooted around to make room as she settled herself on the floor. There were two more bottles of wine waiting along with three tin cups, as the brunette reached into her purse for a corkscrew.

"So what's this all about?" Elena asked to no one particular, as she reached for one bottle.

"I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with that man that was in the shop earlier today," Caroline answered, eyeing a still silent Bonnie.

Elena frowned in concern and inserted the corkscrew, "What man, Bonnie? Who was he?"

Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip; the answer as well as the seven years of an untold secret beat against her insides like a trapped bird searching blindly for a window.

"He's Henry's father," Bonnie quietly replied, her eyes darting around and refusing to look at her two best friends.

Twin audible gasps disrupted the silence around them at her answer. Gathering the last bit of strength she had after her talk with Nik, she forged ahead before either of her friends could respond.

"He's also my ex-husband."

She glanced up to gauge their responses and found Elena clutching imaginary pearls while her mouth hung open. Caroline's hand covered her mouth as her eyes blinked rapidly; both of them trying to process what she'd said.

Elena removed the corkscrew and set the still unopened bottle aside.

"Nope," she declared finally and firmly, before pushing open the trap door tossing down the rope ladder.

"Elena, where are you going?" Bonnie cried.

The brunette stopped when she was halfway out of the treehouse, resting her elbows on the floor as she stood on the ladder.

"Wine is for recapping The Bachelor, or random musings about life, love and the universe. It's for talking shit about people we can't stand until the sun comes up. _But this shit here?_ This calls for the hard stuff," Elena explained before disappearing down the ladder and jogging across the lawn toward the back door of the house.

#

"Ok, first of all," Caroline began while holding out her cup for Elena to pour out a healthy amount of bourbon. "I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we are completely pissed at you and the only thing keeping us from leaving and not speaking to you for a solid month _at least_ is the fact that this involves our godson." While her voice was calm, her blue eyes were hardened with a mixture of hurt, disbelief and anger.

"I know…I know," Bonnie groaned, rubbing her hands on her cheeks in frustration.

"How could hide a whole husband from us, Bonnie?" The blonde pressed.

"Ex-husband."

"That's even worse!" Caroline thundered. "You got married _and_ divorced and the two people that are supposed to know you better than anyone don't find out until now?! What the fuck, Bon?"

They'd known that Bonnie moving to Chicago in conjunction with them beginning their freshman year at Whitmore meant that they wouldn't be as available to one another as they had been for most of their lives. To go from talking for hours at a time every day to hurried text messages and catch up phone calls on birthdays and holidays hadn't been easy for any of them.

Bonnie mentioned once or twice that she was seeing someone, but there never seemed to be enough time to dig in and find out what was really going on with her in the windy city. And when she finally moved back to Mystic Falls two years later, Elena and Caroline were still full time students at Whitmore and when they did come home for weekends or holidays, all their time was spent fawning over Henry while they hoped that one day Bonnie would finally offer up the details on how he came to be.

The more years that passed, the farther removed Bonnie seemed from her life in Chicago. She never brought it up, not even in passing. Whatever happened, she seemed to have worked her way through it and they'd left it at that. All that mattered was that their best friend was back and they had godson to spoil.

"Ok…Ok, let's hear her out," Elena said, holding her arms out in front of her. "It's not the first time we've kept something from each other before. I mean how long did it take before I told y'all about Liam?"

Three years ago, Damon Salvatore, heir to the multi-million dollar Salvatore Pasta empire, strolled into Elena's small real estate office looking to sell his family's home.

While he didn't end up selling it, he did end up proposing six months later—with Elena becoming a geyser of platitudes about how alive and free he made her feel.

But the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long and a year after they married, Elena began to see the telltale signs that Damon was sleeping around. It wasn't as though he didn't have a reputation for such things before he met her, but he'd seemed committed to their life together in the beginning.

After a while he stopped even bothering to try and hide it once he realized that she knew and hadn't immediately shouted for a divorce.

Instead, she held her tongue. Despite his infidelities, it was Elena he wanted on his arm when he introduced his wife to colleagues. And since they led a comfortable, prosperous life, Elena felt free to focus on things other than the dying passion in her marriage—like expanding her business, or the automatic nullification of their pre-nup in 10 years…or even kindling passion somewhere else.

Before long, she started seeing Liam, a med student doing his residency at the local hospital. They made no promises to one another even though she knew that he was becoming more and more smitten as the days passed. Her feelings for him were growing as well, but for now it wasn't enough to take her away from the comfort of her marriage.

She'd been seeing Liam for almost a year before she finally confessed to Bonnie and Caroline.

"Pffft! That's different. Who didn't know that you were banging Dr. Feelgood?" Caroline argued.

"Caroline!" Elena gasped.

"Oh calm down. We're not here to discuss your wayward hooha remember?" The blonde drained her cup and held it out for another shot.

"So what happened, Bonnie?" Elena asked.

"His name is Niklaus Mikaelson. I met him not long after I moved to Chicago and we got married a year later, Bonnie explained, her voice low.

Her hands were clasped tightly around her cup; as if its metal could anchor her there and keep her from drifting away toward memories she'd apparently failed to numb herself against after years of trying. If she stuck to the pertinent facts, maybe she could get through it with without bursting into tears.

"He's English and he comes from money. He said he travelled back and forth every few months to check on his family's business. That was his routine while dated and even after we married and through a good chunk of the time I was pregnant with Henry.

"Why would you put up with that kind of life?" Caroline asked.

I understood. I mean I was already used to it from all those years my dad was in sales. It wasn't ideal, but the times I spent with him made the times without him worth it. Plus after we married, I started taking more classes so I was just as occupied as he was in my own way."

"Does Uncle Rudy know?"

Bonnie nodded, "And if you think he was upset about me moving up there in the first place, telling him I got married and that I was pregnant was a hundred times worse. He didn't even speak to me again until after Henry was born and everything got shot to hell."

"How?" Elena asked, already bracing for it.

"It turned out that he hadn't been checking on the family business in England after all. In fact he hadn't even been leaving the country.

"So what was it? He had another wife?" Caroline guessed.

"No."

"A bunch of babies?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"He masterminded a series of bank robberies."

Caroline and Elena's mouths dropped opened. "Are you fucking kidding me?" The blonde whispered aghast.

"He got busted after his last job and got sentenced to 25 to life."

"Then what the hell's he doing her now?" Elena demanded.

"He said he earned an early release and now he wants a chance to connect with Henry."

"And you said yes?"

Bonnie nodded, "I told him I'd talk to Henry and then see about having him over for dinner later this week."

All three women fell silent, each sorting her own thoughts between gulps of bourbon.

"Did you love him?" Elena asked finally.

The weight of the past few hours made Bonnie's shoulders sag. Why did she feel so old and tired when the morning had held such promise? Elena's question struck right at the heart of her troubles and try as she might she couldn't stop the fat tears that welled up and rolled down her cheeks.

"I did," she nodded sadly. "I loved him…and I thought he loved me too…" Her voice broke at the end as her face crumpled and she folded into herself; the wrenching sobs she denied herself for so long escaping from between the fingers she tried to press to her mouth.

Elena's arms came around Bonnie's shuddering form and held her as she and Caroline absorbed the fact that if this pain was even a fraction of what she felt all those years ago…that she'd been raising Henry, finished school and built a business from the ground up while this heartbreak sat on her shoulders the entire time and no one had been the wiser…

Bonnie felt Caroline's hands on her face and she raised her up and brushed away her tears.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie cried, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I couldn't back then. I couldn't think about it because I needed to think about Henry. Everything I do is for that boy and that's why I'm doing this. If Henry has a chance to know his father then I can't let my feelings about him get in the way." She didn't protest when Caroline moved her tin cup aside and passed her the entire bottle. Bonnie drank deeply, feeling the fiery liquid burn through the fog of too many emotions as her sobs subsided.

"I know I'm being selfish for telling you now, but I can't do this alone anymore. Not with him here. I have to keep it together and I can't let him being here turn me into _this_.

Caroline pulled Bonnie from a now crying Elena's arms and hugged her tightly.

"You're out of your fucking mind if think we'd ever not be here for you," The blonde declared, her voice thick with tears of her own as Elena scooted over and hugged them both.

"She's right. And if this asshole is here because of Henry, then we need to make sure that both of you are ok."

Caroline took the bottle from Bonnie's hand and took a swig, her mind already beginning to work on the problem at hand.

"We need to get ahead of this because who and what this Nik is will get out sooner than later and I'll be damned if I have any of the gossipy shits in this town whispering behind my godson's back." Bonnie's secret was the stuff of epic scandals in a town like Mystic Falls, the likes of which becoming cautionary tales for years to come.

"Where's he staying?" Elena asked.

"He said he put a deposit down over at Ms. Pearl's for the next three months."

"Shit," Caroline grumbled. "It won't take that old bird long to figure out who he is, if he hasn't told her already."

"Not necessarily, Care." Elena reasoned.

"Are you forgetting that Ms. Pearl figured out that we were the ones spiking the grape juice for Kids Communion way back when?" Bonnie asked.

"Damn…you're right," the brunette mused.

"We have to diffuse this. Take the wind out its sails," Caroline decided.

"But how?" Bonnie hiccupped.

"We need to rally the troops and let them in on what's going on and then present a united front so that when it gets out, it doesn't land as hard. Bonnie's nearest and dearest are going to have to treat the fact that her bank robbing baby daddy just blew into town like it isn't the juiciest bit of news to hit this place in decades. We've got to treat it like we've known the whole time and make the news…not news."

Elena nodded in agreement, "If we do that, then maybe we can change how the information passed around so that it blows over quickly."

"And in the meantime," Caroline continued, we've got your back and we'll keep an eye on the jailbird. You just focus on you and Henry, ok?"

Bonnie nodded as she let out a ragged sigh. She didn't feel better, per se, but her mind was clearer than it had been since Nik walked into her store.

"I love you guys. I really do."

"We know," Elena said, squeezing her. "Because we love you too."

"Yep. And if the jailbird tries to start any shit…we'll shoot him," Caroline assured, firmly as Elena nodded in agreement.

 **A/N** : Needless to say, Klonnie is not in a good place at the moment and there's at least two people in town that have zero problem busting a cap in his ass LOL This chapter feels heavy on the angst, but it will lighten up I promise.

Yes Ms. Pearl will be around and many more familiar characters will be popping up as well so I hope you like what I've done with them.

Thanks so much for the reviews and please keep them coming. And please forgive any typos or errors. I think I caught most of them, but there's always some that slip by.


	4. Groundwork

A/N: Apologies for any typos. My eyes started to cross during proofreading lol

 **Groundwork**

Nik rode into town as the sun began to set, his meeting with Bonnie still heavy on his mind.

He would meet Henry on Friday.

Despite how anxious he was to see the boy, he had no idea what he would say to him let alone what he would do. How did one respond when faced with a seven year old who knew very little if anything about you? What if the boy wanted no part of him? The very thought caused a twisting in his gut.

And as for Bonnie…

She was now both the treasure and the dragon that guarded it, making the act of reaching her a delicate matter. He would have to be as nimble as Thierry navigating a path through a laser security system. One step out of place, one bobble off balance and Bonnie might detect his full intent and breathe hellfire in response.

It was unsettling to think of her in such a way. Was the connection that had been instantaneous between them so severely damaged beyond repair?

She loved him once but could she love him again?

Back then, she'd given him her love with the abandon and hopefulness that came with youth and inexperience.

" _What is it?" He asked._

" _Nothing…I'm just…I'm really having a great time tonight, Nik," she said, shyly. Whether the warmth she was effused with was the result of the tea they'd had with dinner with or the rush of feeling when his large hand engulfed hers, she didn't know. She only knew she wanted to take a long bath in it._

 _"Well that was the plan, love," he replied, smirking at the sharp little elbow that nudged his side in response._

" _I mean it. I'm not sure what I was expecting tonight, but what I've gotten has been pretty great."_

 _Bonnie agreed to have dinner with him after their impromptu coffee date a few nights earlier. And since she had the night off, Nik sent a car for her and they met at an Indian restaurant he'd developed a fondness for since arriving in Chicago._

 _There was such an ease to Bonnie; an openness that he felt compelled to match, which allowed their talks to drift effortlessly from one subject to another like two who'd known each other for much longer than a few days._

 _He'd spent the evening drinking in her everything about her. The way her eyes closed and she smiled as she inhaled the aroma of her tea. The way she talked with her hands when she fired questions at him about his time in India. The way her face positively lit up when speaking of her best friends…and the hint of melancholy that tinted her voice when she mentioned her father. He even found the way her eyes widened and began to dance at her first taste of the sticky sweetness of galub jamun fascinating._

 _Everything about her drew him in and he found that their words from night before rang as true for him in regard to her as they had for her in regard to leaving home._

 _He wanted to know more._

 _After she complained adorably about being stuffed, Bonnie demanded that they go somewhere to "walk this off." Which is how they found themselves strolling along the boardwalk of the Navy Pier, the colorfully bright lights of the popular tourist attraction illuminating the waters of Lake Michigan._

 _When the wrap she wore proved useless against the chill of the night air, Nik removed his leather jacket and placed it around her shoulders; the act itself surprising him as he wasn't particularly known for such gestures._

 _But seeing the gooseflesh rise on her skin and feeling her light shiver from the cold, compelled him to see to her comfort. And the blushing smile she gave in return warmed him in a way he could not name._

 _What was it about her? She was beautiful, but when hadn't he been surrounded by beautiful women? And while her level-headedness and self-deprecation were less common among them, they were by no means anomalies._

 _Whatever it was, he knew he wanted more time to figure it out—especially when it involved spending more time with her._

 _And_ _that_ _was the problem._

 _To operate in his profession untouched by the rule of law, one needed to able to disappear. The philosophy he'd built when he started all this was sound. Stay long enough to get the job done and then leave, making certain to leave nothing of consequence behind._

 _If all was to unfold as planned, the job here would be finished three months from now, after which he and the others would disband for a month before assembling again in Minneapolis to start the process all over again. They would leave nothing and no one behind; their presence leaving nothing close to a lasting impression._

 _The practice was easier for him than the others by virtue of his family's name and money that went with it. He was able to disappear into the identity that had been presented to the world since birth. That of Niklaus Mikaelson, one of the heirs to the Mikaelson Empire. Someone whose travels never drew suspicion and who possessed bank accounts filled with tens of millions of reasons why he couldn't possibly be responsible for the Night Owl robberies._

 _It was an identity that he would eventually shed for good once this was all over and he would disappear along with the others, no longer tethered to a family or a life that rarely if ever brought him even half of the satisfaction that robbing banks did. He would relinquish his inheritance and live the life that called to him during his quiet moments._

 _Which is why the girl currently being swallowed by his jacket is a problem._

 _He_ _wants_ _to make a lasting impression on her, for she's already begun making one on him._

 _Nik's hand reached out—knowing the complications he's opening himself up to—and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing against her impossibly soft skin with a gentleness that made her eyes drift closed at the sensation. When she opened them, the fireworks bursting overhead were reflected in the verdant orbs, transforming them into twin galaxies._

 _Instead of insisting that she put aside the charade and admit that she wasn't some wide-eyed nymph from some backwoods southern town and was actually an ancient and powerful sorceress hellbent on weaving a spell around him that would bring nothing but his doom, he pulled her closer and swallowed her faint gasp when his lips covered hers._

 _She smelled of saffron and honey and the depth of her inexperience was revealed to him as his lips coaxed hers to follow his lead. She clearly had never been really kissed before…among other things._

 _His ego was not so fragile as to view virginity as an undiscovered land waiting for a flag to be planted. Rather, he found it to be a bit of an inconvenience; the untried proving more trouble than they were worth in his experience._

 _He should end this now and in such a way as to leave her pride unbruised and set off in search of someone infinitely less enticing yet infinitely more likely to know what they're doing._

 _Instead, he nibbled at the fullness of her lips until she parted them, the stirring in his jeans becoming a dull throb at the moan that escaped her when his tongue began to explore. The breeze caused stray tendrils of her hair to kiss his face with the scent of jasmine._

 _His hands itched to roam and squeeze and fondle; to tease her with a hint of the pleasure he knew damn well he could give._

 _But he prided himself on reading people; and the information he gleaned from her told him that while there was a boldness to her, to challenge it too quickly could overwhelm and scare her off._

 _Instead, he settled on dropping his hand from her cheek and wrapping his arms around her; enjoying the feel of her body pressed to his. His tongue played with hers as whatever tension she held faded and she relaxed into his embrace._

 _A grunt of approval escaped him when Bonnie released her fistfuls of his shirt and slid her delicate hands up to the back of his neck-the simple contact with his skin caused him to tighten his hold on her as he deepened the kiss just enough to send a tremor through her small frame._

 _His lips finally parted from hers when she needed a breath; her forehead pressed to his._

 _"Wow..." She lightly panted "You're really good at that."_

 _"I know."_

 _Bonnie grinned, sliding her hand down to cup his cheeks, his stubble tickling her palms._

 _"Modest much?"_

 _"Already asked and answered, love," he replied before releasing her from the circle of his arms; the decision made as to his next course of action._

 _She'd wandered into his path. And yet he could find no part of himself that wanted her removed from it._

And now—years later—having placed himself into her path, he would go to whatever lengths necessary to ensure that he isn't removed from it either.

 **BKBKBKBK**

" _Well hey, Nik_ ," he heard Pearl called after him as he headed for the staircase to his room.

He found her sitting in the living room with a fire burning in the fireplace, her slippered feet resting on an ottoman.

"Well don't you look like a kicked puppy," she observed wryly when he entered. "Sit down. I'll make you a drink."

Nik took off his jacket and settled himself in the chair beside her as the elder woman rose and made her way to a rather well stocked bar.

"So I take it you found Bonnie," Pearl asked as she poured scotch into two double old fashioned glasses. "And by the looks of it, it didn't go as well as you hoped."

"It went as well as could be expected in one case," Nik answered when she finally handed him his drink. "Worse than expected in another."

Pearl moved away to reclaim her perch.

"So what did you do, Nik?" She raised a hand to stop him when he opened his mouth to answer.

"And before you try to spin a yarn, you should know that I've been on _the Google_ while you were gone," she warned.

Nik smirked as he sipped his drink. "Then you know where I've been the past few years and why Bonnie divorced me."

"Hmm...I know you got locked up for an ungodly case of sticky fingers. But I don't know why Bonnie divorced you."

"The consequence of my...sticky fingers," Nik explained, wryly.

Pearl frowned, "Now see, that doesn't sound like the Bonnie I know. For good or ill, that girl has always been 100% loyal. A few bank robberies and a prison sentence wouldn't have been enough to make her drop you like a bad habit if she really cared about you."

Nik stared at the brown liquid in his glass, sloshing it around.

"No, she wouldn't have," he said finally.

"So I'll ask you again…What did you do?"

"I cut her off," he answered quietly. "After I'd been charged and my lawyer told me the direction things were headed, I shut her out. Completely."

"Now why would you do something like that?"

Nik's eyes narrowed. " _Why do you think?_ I was looking at a 25 year mandatory minimum. _Twenty-five years_. Bonnie would have been forty-six before I even got a chance to step in front of a parole board. Henry would have most likely been out of college". He took a healthy gulp of scotch and welcomed the burn on its way down.

"I wasn't going to drag them along with me. They deserved better than that."

"And you didn't bother to talk any of this over with her?" Pearl surmised.

"Why would I? She is as you said; one hundred percent loyal. An explanation would have only caused her to hold on tighter and I didn't want that. The sooner she let me go, the sooner she could get on with her life."

"Except now you're out and she wants nothing to do with you. Way to burn your bridges, Nik," Pearl cackled.

Nik drained his glass and nodded. "And if I had it to do over again, I still would do the same because it was the right choice at the time. And the bridge may be well and truly burnt, but that doesn't mean another can't be built in its place. A better one."

"You think you can pull that off?" Pearl asked. "I mean you said you wanted her to get on with her life. What makes you think she hasn't done that already?"

The older woman might as well have slapped him, he question caught him so off guard.

"What are you implying?" He asked, frowning.

"I'm saying that when Bonnie came back here all miserable and scared with a colicky baby in tow, it took a good long while for her to settle back in and get her bearings. But once she did...well…there hasn't been a shortage of offers from gentleman callers," Pearl explained in a mild voice.

Nik leaned forward in his chair, "Is she seeing someone?" He asked, softly.

Pearl's Mona Lisa smile did nothing to calm the alarm bells that had begun to sound.

"More on that later, dear," she answered coyly before reaching out and patting his hand.

Nik's mind replayed his time with Bonnie earlier in the day. She wore no ring and made no allusion to having a husband. But that didn't mean that she wasn't involved with someone else. And he can admit he's been so focused on getting her back that he never considered the possibility of another man.

But now this crafty old broad has dangled the possibility of one in his face and he feels as though a hole is slowing being burned into his gut.

"Based on your accent," Pearl continued, "I'm betting you've not spent very much time in a town like Mystic Falls."

"A very safe bet," Nik answered dryly.

"Well...that being the case, I think it's only fair that you know that this town is populated by chatterbugs. Hell…folks gossip around here so much it might as well be a profession."

"And you think they're going to start chattering about me," Nik surmised.

"Oh absolutely. A suspect-looking white boy with a snooty accent roars into town on a death machine and turns out to be the ex-husband of one of the sweetest girls in Mystic Falls _and he's crooked too?_ " Pearl didn't bother to hide the vein of glee that ran through her words.

"And how involved in this _chattering_ do you intend to be?"

"Well that depends entirely on you, Nik," Pearl answered. If she'd learned nothing else in her life, she'd learned the benefits of positioning oneself to reap the greatest reward. And while her particular goal had been stalled for the past few years, she knew an opportunity to get the ball rolling again when she saw it.

If Bonnie's bandit of an ex-husband's motives were as on the up-and-up as she suspected they were, then his presence would not only give Mystic Falls a much-needed shot in the arm on the intrigue front, but it would also help in coaxing a certain fly into her parlor.

"And what would you have me do?" Nik asked.

"Oh nothing right now. Your being here will be enough for a while. But there will come a time when I'm going to ask you to do something and I'm going to need you to do it, no questions asked."

"That's asking a lot. What do I get in return?"

"My discretion. My information. All of my resources really. Because let's face it: you're going to need all of the help you can get to pull this off and I can offer you a healthy portion of that help. All I'm asking for is your cooperation when the time is right."

Nik rose and moved to refill his glass as he considered the older woman's offer. It was true. He was a stranger in a strange land. And while that wouldn't deter him, the fact remained that the people here had known Bonnie and her family for generations. Which meant they were all closer to her than he was at the moment. Navigating the relationships and personalities in this community would be easier if there was a more experienced hand at the ready.

Pearl thinks gossip here is basically a profession and she may be right. But he is English and the British raised gossip to an art form centuries ago. So he knows that the bulk of talk surrounding himself and Bonnie will die down eventually. The trick will be to weather it in such a way as to not forfeit the possibility of community engagement.

And it's then—as he retakes his seat—that a sensation that hadn't taken hold in over seven years presents itself. The slight tingle that settles on his shoulders as his mind begins to devise a plan as elaborate and detailed as any bank heist he'd ever crafted.

"Ms. Pearl," he said, smirking as he extended his glass. "You have yourself a deal."

 **BKBKBKBK**

Bonnie stirred her pasta sauce again before turning the fire down low. The week seemed to fly by and now Nik would be joining them for dinner any minute.

After their confab, Caroline and Elena set off on their respective missions. Caroline enlisted the help of her mother, Sheriff Forbes, to dig up whatever she could find on Nik, while Elena spent the week going over the highlights of Bonnie's failed marriage with their nearest and dearest- even managing to convince Tyler Lockwood that "hunting that fucker down" wasn't the best course of action.

Fortunately, Nik seemed content with maintaining a low profile for the most part and had hardly been seen in town.

All that had been left for Bonnie was the unenviable task of talking to her father.

 _"Pass the socket wrench, please,"_

 _"Dad, I need to talk to you for a minute," Bonnie announced as she bent down and handed the tool to her father. She'd left Luka in charge of the store for the afternoon and headed over to her father's place; finding him lying underneath his truck._

 _"Sure, Ladybug. What's on your mind?"_

 _"A lot, actually," Bonnie answered, fidgeting. "Nik's in town."_

 _"Nik who?"_

 _"Nik Mikaelson...Henry's father."_

 _She watched as Rudy stilled before slowing rolling himself from underneath his truck and sitting up._

 _"Now what the hell would he be doing here, Bonnie?" His brown eyes narrowed, "He's not on the lam is he?"_

 _"No. According to Sheriff Forbes, he made a deal for early release. He helped the Feds catch a group that was copycatting the Night Owl robberies."_

 _"Well bully for him," Rudy snorted. "But that doesn't explain what he's doing here."_

 _"He's here to meet Henry. He said he wants to spend time with him...try to be his father."_

 _"Is that so? And what do you have to say about that?"_

 _Bonnie sighed, "I invited over to dinner this Friday."_

 _Rudy took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he slowly shook his head._

 _"Dad I know where you're going with this-"_

 _"Do you? I sure hope so because I can see exactly where you're going, Bonnie."_

 _And just like that, they were right back to where they were the day she'd called to tell him that not only was she getting married, but that she was pregnant. The day that Rudy decided he'd failed his daughter despite his best efforts._

 _"Nik is not Abby, Dad," Bonnie said._

 _"Oh no? So then you didn't marry somebody you really didn't know only to have them turn around and leave you with a child to raise and no idea of how to do it? That didn't happen?"_

 _Bonnie's phone call to him all those years ago had been the realization of one of his biggest fears. He never wanted Bonnie's life to turn out like his, and yet history still repeated itself with military precision._

 _A whirlwind romance. A spur of the moment marriage…and a baby._

 _Rudy hadn't bothered to hide his anger and disappointment at the problems Bonnie was setting herself up with, but when his brother called several months after Henry was born and told him that his daughter had gotten herself into some serious trouble; no amount of anger or disappointment could stop him from heading up to Chicago on the first thing smoking._

 _No parent wanted to see their child in the state he found Bonnie. While she hadn't married a flighty thing who had no business being a wife or mother to anyone, she had unknowingly married a goddamn career felon and the reality of the mess she'd gotten herself and her child into was written all over her face._

 _To see the haunted, scared and broken look in her eyes and know that it was all too similar to the one he'd once worn as he held her in her infancy; like she was the only thing he had left, broke his heart all over again._

 _He'd packed Bonnie and his grandson up and moved them back to Mystic Falls and never gave Chicago and the bullshit that had happened to her there a second thought. Henry's father was going to be in prison for pretty much the rest of his life and now he had chance to not only be there for his daughter when she needed him, but he could also be there for Henry in the ways he hadn't been for there Bonnie._

 _And now here they were seven years later and Bonnie's telling him that not only is her piece of shit ex-husband out of prison, he's in town and wants to see Henry._

 _"This isn't going to end well, Bonnie," Rudy warned. "Say you're right and all he wants is to be a father to Henry…then what? Is he moving to town permanently? How much of a presence does he want in the boy's life? How do you know he isn't going to just jerk that boy around with broken promises?"_

 _"I don't know," Bonnie said honestly. "I just have to hope that he's sincere and if he isn't, then then I'll do whatever I need to do to make sure that Henry is a priority in at least one of his parent's lives."_

 _She didn't relish the idea of going through the court system and seeking full custody, but her father was right. She wasn't about to let Henry to go through the same spin cycle that Abby had put her through over the years._

 _"You said he comes from money. If it comes to that, there's no guarantee that things will land on your side, Bonnie."_

 _"I know, which is why I don't want it to come to that. I want to see if we can make this co-parenting thing work. I want to see if Nik's really invested in being Henry's father. I have to give him that chance if for no other reason than the fact that Henry deserves to know something of where he came from. I just need you to trust me to do what's best for him, Dad."_

 _"And what about what's best for you, Bonnie? Henry's not the only one I'm worried about with this guy in town."_

 _"I know. And I know that telling you not to worry won't make much difference but I'm going to do it anyway. The past is the past. And when that particular bridge burned, Nik let me know exactly what he thought of me by lighting the match. So I'm not trying to put myself back into a position to get burned again. I've put too much work into this life to mess it up."_

 _Rudy got to his feet and hugged his daughter. They'd made the same mistakes. But it would be unfair not to admit that Bonnie had pushed through all of that and carved out a life for herself and Henry with a grace that he hadn't been capable of after Abby left._

 _"If he tries anything..." Rudy warned._

 _Bonnie planted a kiss on her father's cheek. "Get in line...Caroline and Elena already called dibs on shooting him."_

 _"Damn..." He muttered._

It had taken the next few days to get Rudy somewhat settled with the idea of Nik being welcomed into her home. Fortunately, Henry had taken to the situation with a great deal more ease.

 _"Don't forget your toes," Bonnie reminded him as she rummaged through one of Henry's dresser drawers for a clean pair of pajamas._

 _"I got it, Mama..." Henry's little exasperated voice answered as she heard the water splashing from his bath. Finding his favorite Batman PJs, she laid them on his bed and made her way across the hall to the bathroom to find her son sitting in the tub with his brows furrowed; holding a foot and scrubbing away in earnest._

 _She put down the lid to the toilet and sat down. "I wanted to talk to you about something, Henry," she began._

 _"What is it, Mama?" the boy asked, switching to his other foot._

 _"Remember what I told you about your Dad? About how he did something bad a long time ago and got grounded for it?"_

 _Henry nodded, his eyes wide. She told him about his dad the day he came home from kindergarten and had to draw a picture of his family for homework. He wasn't the only kid in his class that didn't have a dad. Emily's dad went to heaven before she was born and Peter's dad wasn't married to his mom anymore and a judge said that he had to stay with his mom from now on and Chase had two moms and no dad at all._

 _But Henry had his mama who could be a lot of fun when she wanted to be and he had his Gramps who was his best friend ever and he had his Aunt Lena and Aunt Bear who always tried to get him out of trouble whenever he got into it._

 _So when he drew a picture of his family, he found that he didn't have room for a dad even if he wanted one. Still, he figured he should ask in case he was supposed to be there after all._

 _After she told him that his dad had been grounded, she gave him a picture of him that he still kept in his secret stash along with his trading cards, his favorite fishing lures, his SpongeBob paint set and a blue ribbon that fell out of Emily's hair the week before._

 _"Well," Bonnie began, "Your dad isn't grounded anymore. So he's come to town and he wants to meet you."_

 _Henry dropped his foot back into the tub. "He's here?"_

 _"Mmhmm," his mother nodded. "And I told him that he could come over for dinner on Friday but only if you're ok with it."_

 _Henry chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. "I'm ok with it," he said hesitantly. He was curious, but what if he didn't like his dad...or worse what if his dad didn't like him?_

 _Bonnie watched with a practiced eye as her son resolved himself to his decision._

 _"Well good...because we're having your favorite when he comes over."_

 _Henry's large green eyes brightened at that. "I'm really, really ok with it, Mama," he answered nodding vigorously before laughing at the water she splashed at him._

Bonnie didn't know if Henry had spoken to his Gramps about it, but she suspected that he had as the boy told him everything. She also suspected that the Saturday fishing trip Rudy planned for the two of them out of the blue, was a direct result of the dinner that would be happening tonight. Her father would try to get as much info out of Henry as he could tomorrow morning.

She turned the oven on before heading to the dining room to set the table, and prayed that she wasn't setting them all up for a terrible mistake.

 **BKBKBKBK**

Nik pulled up to the address Bonnie texted him and cut the engine. The house was just as she'd described it early on in their relationship. The small farmhouse was built in the early 1900s and was purchased and slowly restored by Bonnie's grandparents in the late 50s. Her father had grown up in it and eventually so had she.

And now their son was somewhere inside waiting to meet a stranger.

He unlatched the gate of the white picket fence that surrounded the front yard; the porchlight revealing the hanging plants suspended from it along with a bench swing covered in pillows. The first floor picture window seemed to glow with the light coming from the living room and he could see the outline of Bonnie's silhouette against the curtains when she passed by.

Seeing it reminded him that despite the fact that he'd taken to planning his way back into Bonnie's heart with the same focus he would a vault, this was not a bank he was dealing with.

 _This was his family_.

 _These were the lives of the two people he loved most._

 _What if this was a mistake?_

He'd already made a mess of things with Bonnie, what if he made another one with his son? Perhaps he should turn around, get on his bike and head out of Mystic Falls and spare them both the trouble of potentially upending what appeared to be a happy life without him?

He could leave right now and go anywhere. He need only violate his parole once and leave the country as his partners had done, never to be heard from again. Disappear and find a new home elsewhere.

But who was he kidding? There was no home to be had-no home that he wanted that didn't include the two people inside that house. Maybe it was selfish to insist on having them given the circumstances and maybe he was gambling with all of their happiness. But it was a gamble he was willing to make, and a desired outcome he was determined to fulfill.

A couple of taps with the door knocker and the door opened with Bonnie standing on the other side.

"Hey," she said, awkwardly. "Come on in."

Nik followed her as she retreated further into the house, taking in the warm yet elegant simplicity of the décor. A glance toward the dining room and he could see that the table had already already set.

He shrugged off his jacked when Bonnie motioned for it.

"Henry's upstairs finishing his homework. I'll call him down in a sec," she explained, hanging the jacket on a coat rack.

Nik nodded as he continued to soak in the atmosphere of the home she'd created before following her into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can help with?" he asked as he leaned against the doorway; watching as she busied her at the sink.

"No thanks. Salad's in the fridge and the sauce is simmering. I just need to make the pasta and toss the bread in the oven. In the meantime…" She moved back into the dining room as she dried her hands with a dish towel.

"Henry…you have a visitor," she called.

Nik froze when he heard a faint "Ok, Mama" in response.

A moment later, a sturdy little boy with a head full of strawberry blond curls and big green eyes came bounding down the stairs, stopping short at Bonnie's side.

Bonnie crouched down to the boy's level and put an arm around him.

"Henry, this is Nik. Nik…this is Henry."

Mother and son both looked up at him with the same expectant eyes.

While Bonnie had routinely sent him pictures of the boy over the years, nothing compared to the perfect little human staring at him.

The brown of his skin was a lighter than Bonnie's and so much of his face reminded Nick of himself when he was that age. But the eyes…the eyes were all Bonnie. The same remarkable green and filled with same amount of curiosity and mischief.

He swallowed the urge to sweep the boy into his arms hold him until he could finally believe he was real and instead crouched down and extended his hand.

"Hello, Henry. It's very nice to meet you."

The boy slowing took his hand and shook it. "Hi," he said, shyly.

"Henry," Bonnie started, drawing the boy's attention. "Why don't you take Nik into the living room while I finish getting dinner ready ok?" She kissed him on his temple after he nodded before disappearing into the kitchen.

Father and son fidgeted in the awkwardness of suddenly being alone with nothing to say. Nik was at a loss. The last time he'd spoken to a child, he'd been one.

"She's making my favorite…" Henry offered.

"And what's your favorite?"

"Spaghetti and cheesecake," came his bright reply.

Nik cocked his head, "That's an odd combination to eat for dinner," he teased.

"No! The cheesecake is for dessert," the boy laughed.

"Well, I haven't had her spaghetti in a very long time so I'm looking forward to it." He straightened when Henry grabbed a sleeve of his Nik's shirt and ushered him into the living room.

The boy knelt in front of the coffee table and pulled out a plastic tub filled with Legos.

"And what's this?" Nik asked motioning to what appeared to be the beginnings of some kind of building.

"Aunt Lena gave it to me for Christmas. It's going to be a castle," Henry explained as he reached into the tub and began snapping pieces into place. "You can help if you want."

Nik sat down opposite Henry and assessed the work in progress. The predetermined design was easy enough for a boy his age. But while uncomplicated, it was clearly meant to be time consuming. He reached into the tub for a handful of pieces.

"Mama said you got grounded."

Nik smiled, ruefully at Bonnie's delicate choice of words. "She's right. I did."

"What did you do?"

 _Right to the point, are we?_

"I…took things that didn't belong to me- _which is very wrong_ ," Nik began as he snapped several pieces into place. "When a judge found out, she grounded me for a very long time." He struggled not to smile as the boy nodded as somberly as if this were a tale of woe that not only he'd experienced but had also seen it endured by others.

"But because I was very good and helped catch some very bad people," he continued. "The judge said I didn't have to stay grounded for as long as I was supposed to."

Henry sat back on his heels, his brow furrowed. He thought of the times he'd been grounded and how no amount of being good had ever gotten him out of it early.

"Mama would _never_ do that," he decided with a nod.

Nik grinned, "No…I don't suppose she would."

"Where do you live?" Henry asked, changing the subject.

"Well right now I'm staying at Ms. Pearl's inn."

The boy stopped his work and laid a tiny hand on Nik's shoulder.

" _Be careful_. You have dimples like me and she likes to pinch," he advised.

Nik smiled and saw and and identical one bloom on his son's cherubic face.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

 **#**

Dinner went smoothly as Henry turned out to be a bit of a chatterbox and regaled them with stories from school. Everything from the class frogs escaping the terrarium to his friend Emily punching a boy in nose when he yanked on her hair. He talked about going fishing with his grandfather in the morning and wanting to sign up for Pop Warner in August.

Bonnie interjected very little, offering explanation or clarification whenever confusion settled on Nik's face at the boy's words.

After dessert and the dishes had been cleared away, Bonnie sent Henry back into the living room with Nik for a while longer before sending the boy upstairs to get ready for bed. And when she offered to have him read Henry's his bedtime story, Nik couldn't hide his smile when the boy agreed.

"Mama said you're my dad," Henry said as he climbed into bed.

"I am," Nik answered, waiting for the boy to settle beneath the covers. "How do you feel about that?"

The boy chewed his lip slowly. "I don't know. I never had one before."

The innocently spoken words made Nik's heart clench.

"Well…if it makes you feel any better, I've never had a son before," he offered. "Perhaps we can figure it out together."

Henry stroked his jaw the way he'd seen his Gramps do many times over.

"Ok," he said finally with a smile before another thought came to him and he frowned.

"Do I have to call you Dad?"

Nik smiled. "We're still new at this," he reminded the boy. "So you can call me that only when you're ready to, alright?"

Henry nodded, satisfied.

"Now…your mother says that you're due for a story before bed."

Henry searched beneath his pillow and withdrew a small hardbound picture book.

" _Where the Wild Things Are,"_ Nik announced, impressed at the choice. Upon closer inspection of the book itself, he realized that not only was this a first edition. It was _his_ first edition. He remembered bringing the book back from England during Bonnie's second trimester after she insisted that reading to children while in the womb assisted in brain development.

An image rose in his mind of her leaning back into his chest; her hands resting on her rounded stomach as he read aloud the story of a naughty young boy whose bedroom transformed into a distant island of which he would become king.

"It's my favorite," Henry explained.

"Then you've inherited my taste in bedtime stories," Nik smirked, flipping to the first page.

Henry's small hand reached out, stopping. "Mama does voices."

Nik moved to sit on the edge of Henry's bed so that the boy could follow along.

"Then voices you shall have."

 **#**

Nik found Bonnie on the porch, sitting on her bench swing and moved to sit beside her.

"He's beautiful, Bonnie," he said quietly, his hands clasped in front of him.

Bonnie smiled to herself, nodding. "Yeah he is. He's the best thing that came out of all of that."

She was still guarded with him, but he recognized that she hadn't been as prickly as she'd been at the coffee shop earlier that week. Whether that was for Henry's benefit or the result of her trying to adjust to his presence, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was sitting next to her and she didn't appear ready to bolt.

"I know I didn't make things very easy for you," he began. "But I was glad to hear that you went to New York."

Bonnie smiled, ruefully. "Took me a while to go after you sent back the papers. But in the end, I'm glad I did. Thank you for that."

"Don't thank me, love. It was the very least I could do, considering," he answered, catching the way she tensed briefly at the endearment before she relaxed again.

"How are we going to do this, Nik?" Bonnie asked as she leaned forward and massaged her temples.

"Slowly, I think," he answered. "Look, I know I can't make anything up to you and Henry but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try."

"Don't worry about me. Focus on Henry," said flatly.

"Of course. But I think the best way to go about that is if we are on the same page. I'm not expecting anything from you, but I hope that this… _civility_ …can morph into something vaguely resembling a friendship…for Henry's sake if for no other reason."

Bonnie looked out onto her front lawn. _This wasn't fair_. By rights she should be slapping the taste out of his mouth, clawing his eyes out and giving her very best effort to break his fucking neck while calling him everything but a child of God.

 _But noooo_. She had to be an _adult_. More importantly she had to be a mother. And for _Henry's_ sake she would have to swallow her every desire to find out if violent delights truly did have violent ends and be… _friendly_.

"You mean that?" She asked suspiciously.

"Absolutely," came his reply. While her friendship was by no means his endgame, it would certainly be to his advantage once his plan was set into play.

Bonnie leaned back and sighed deeply. "Give me a few days and then we can look into a visitation schedule.

Nik nodded, "That will give me a bit more time to get settled. Ms. Pearl has offered to give me a me a tutorial on small town living."

"Which means she told you that it's only a matter of time before our business is out in the streets," Bonnie snorted.

"In a manner of speaking," he smirked.

"Well, Henry's godmothers are already working to diffuse some of that. Don't need any of this getting blown all out of proportion," she said, standing.

"In the meantime a word of advice: be polite to the elderly, go to the Mystic Grill for a really good steak…and for God's sake, please don't rob the bank."

"Oh I'm retired from all that, love," Nik said, chuckling as he stood.

"Good. Because the last thing I need is for you to bond with Henry only to turn around and get locked up again," she replied fold, her arms across her chest.

"I know my word doesn't mean much to you right now," he said, standing as close to her as he dared. "But that won't happen," he promised.

Bonnie nodded as she shifted from one foot to the other, fighting her annoyance at the way he towered over her and how the directness of his gaze made her feel like ant beneath a magnifying glass on a sunny day.

"Anyway, I need to get inside…so I guess I'll see you around."

"Of course," he answered already making his way doing the porch steps. She was just about the close the door when his voice stopped her.

"You won't regret this, Bonnie," he promised.

Bonnie gave him a curt nod. "Good night, Nik," she replied before closing the door.

 **#**

Bonnie peeked into Henry's bedroom to find him sprawled on his stomach, his blankets and pillows kicked off as usual.

"Mama?" Henry mumbled sleepily.

"Yes, baby?" She answered, straightening his blankets and retrieving a wayward pillow.

"I like him."

Bonnie leaned down and gently dropped a kiss on his forehead before watching drift off again.

"I knew you would," she whispered.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry this update too so long but work and rewrites were a beast. This feels a bit like an info dump/maintenance chapter, but I needed these first four chapters to establish where everyone's head is since this also serves as the end of the first act. I'm really looking forward to getting started of the next chapters because now I can start introducing and both Nik and you to the Mystic Falls community at large. Plus this chapter asks a few questions about Klonnie's past that I'm looking forward to answering. I think I've got some cool stuff planned but we'll see. Anyway, thank you all for reading and please be sure to review. Without feedback, we writers tend to feel like we're storytelling into the void LOL.

Also do check out Anastasia-G's new fics _Sanctuary_ and _A Case of You_. They're giving me so much life right now!

Cheers!


	5. Man About Town

**Apologies for any spell or grammatical errors.**

 **Man About Town**

 _Research_.

It was the most important part of any job, really. The more thorough the research, the greater the likelihood for success. It's never simply a matter of blueprints, security systems and personnel schedules. Those who focused solely on those were most likely to be caught.

No, a perfectly executed robbery required more nuance. It required skin and bones and breath. An understanding that you weren't simply stealing money from a vault. You were also stealing it from the people responsible for that money. The guards who protected it; the personnel that removed and returned it every day. The executives who showed it off to potential clients.

In order to steal from all of them, you needed to know them. And the very last thing anyone wanted was to spend an exorbitant amount of time, money and manpower planning a job only to have it go to waste because you didn't know that one particular junior executive had no life and a tendency to work late whenever he'd been turned down.

The devil—as always-was in the details.

"Leave the jacket," Pearl instructed, as she climbed out of her pale yellow 1954 Cadillac convertible.

"Why?" Nik asked, already peeling the leather from his shoulders.

"Because you're not modest and the women in this town have eyes and imaginations. Two things that will definitely work in your favor," she explained, eying him appreciatively when the broadness of his chest and the definition of his arms came into view.

"You sure this is for them and not for you?"

" _Both_. Eye candy is for _everyone_ , Nik. She came around to his side and linked her arm through his.

It had been almost four weeks since his dinner with Henry and Bonnie; and he'd spent the majority of that time getting to know his son. Thanks to the schedule Bonnie came up with, he picked up Henry from school three nights a week and spent every other Saturday with him.

Pearl had been true to her word. With only a handful of phone calls, the woman had successfully planted seeds of information about his presence in town. Never telling the whole story. Never even claiming to know the whole story. She simply gave them enough detail to whet their greedy little appetites and push them to draw their own conclusions.

"Once Gertie Lockwood called last night to find out if I knew the truth about my new border, I figured it was time to take you out for a spin," Pearl explained as they began to walk down Birch Street.

"Who is Gertie Lockwood?" Nik asked, taking note of a small group of women sitting at a table outside of a tea house. Each eyed him suspiciously before dissolving into huddled whispers. He flashed them the smile that had turned a no into yes on more than once occasion and nodded a greeting in their direction. Those that didn't blush immediately, stared with wide eyes.

"Gertie is Mayor Lockwood's mother. And she said her grandson Tyler told her _everything_ ," Pearl explained rolling her eyes dramatically.

Nik frowned. " _Everything_? How the hell would he know?"

"He knows because Tyler's known Bonnie almost as long as Caroline and Elena have."

"And Bonnie said those two were working on diffusing the situation." Nik concluded.

" _Right_. And if Tyler is running his mouth about Bonnie like it's no big deal, then they must not _want_ it to be a big deal."

Nik considered her words. "I'm not big on having a fuss made over it either. We should help them keep it from becoming one."

" _We are_." Pearl assured, squeezing his arm affectionately.

"That's what today's about. But not only do we help _them_ , we're also helping _you_ since they've also gone and opened a big ol window of opportunity for you."

"What _are_ you talking about?"

"Well...what I realized while talking to Gertie is that while she had all of the facts—you're Bonnie's rich, bank robbing ex-husband and baby daddy—she didn't say anything inherently _bad_ about you. And I'm thinking that's because she didn't _know_ anything bad about you. Which means that Tyler didn't _tell_ her anything bad, which means Caroline and Elena didn't _say_ anything either. And if I know Caroline, she'd like nothing better than to talk enough shit to get you run out of here in no time. But she can't because Bonnie's trying to be a responsible parent for Henry's sake. They can't trash you because Bonnie won't let them."

"So rather than go negative, they aren't going anywhere," Nik concluded.

" _Right_. And that's your window. That's your chance to offer up your side of the story in whatever way you want. So who are you going to be, Nik?" Pearl asked. "The crooked ex-con that no one should trust; or the repentant outlaw, ready to be set to rights by the love of a good woman?"

Nik continued on in silence as he considered his options. In the old days, hair pieces, make up wardrobe and falsified records transformed him into whomever the job required and allowed him to access that would otherwise be denied.

But now, there were no guises to create; no lies to tell and no secrets to keep. There was very little he could say to Bonnie that she'd believe anyway, leaving action as the only recourse.

"I'm going to need to make a visit to the city council's office," he said finally, an idea taking shape.

"I'm feeling a bit _philanthropic_."

 **#**

"What can I get you guys?"

"Well Ben, I will have a whiskey sour and my friend Nik here will have bourbon," Pearl answered as she settled herself on a bar stool and if you could have Clarence make us some shrimp and grits that would be terrific."

"So this is the Nik I've been hearing about huh?" The bartender asked, giving Nik the once over as he took their order.

"The very one," Pearl answered. "Nik, this is Ben McKittrick. Ben, this is Nik Mikaelson."

"Nice to meet you," Ben said, extending his hand. "You know...my cousin Johnny tried to rob the Piggly Wiggly last summer, just saying."

"How ambitious of him," Nik answered dryly.

"Trying to rob the Piggly Wiggly wasn't the ambitious part," Pearl laughed. "Trying to rob it while high on bath salts, naked as a jaybird and covered in manure from the Anderson's farm... _that's_ the ambitious part."

"Go big or go home, I guess," Ben chuckled ruefully, setting their drinks down. "So how are you liking Mystic Falls so far?"

"Honest answer? The jury's still out."

In the few hours he'd been out with Pearl they'd actually made a great deal of progress in establishing his presence in Mystic Falls. He discovered a more than adequate art supply store as well a tailor and owner of a fine men's clothing store. He purchased a membership at the local gym and made an appointment with the local barber.

A trip to City Hall resulted in Pearl bullying his name onto the mayor's wife's calendar to discuss sponsoring several social events that would be taking place over the next several months.

The Mystic Falls social season would begin a few weeks and with it would come a multitude of events from fairs to pageants to balls. Regardless of how tarnished his name was, it came with enough resources to make his sponsorship an enviable acquisition.

Still, what should have been a simple matter of scheduling a meeting quickly turned into a bothersome fiasco.

 _"So exactly how much money did you steal?"_

 _"Shame on you for leaving that sweet girl alone with a baby."_

 _"You know...you remind me of my ex-husband...he was a lout too."_

 _"The Bennetts have always been good to me and mine...watch your back, Yankee."_

And those were the highlights.

If he wasn't being ogled or sneered at, he was being chastised by people who knew next to nothing about him or his relationship with Bonnie. Under any other circumstance he'd already be planning a chastisement of his own for their impertinence in trying to tell him about his business.

But such pursuits—no matter how satisfying—would only defeat the purpose. He can't be seen as a welcome addition to a community if he's also plotting the ruin of those silly enough to stick their noses where they didn't belong.

So he smiled and offered up all the charm he possessed; allowing it to smooth feathers he never cared about ruffling. If nothing else, his reception told the tale of how deeply Bonnie, and by extension her family, were ensconced both in Mystic Falls and in the lives of those who lived there.

"I think it's safe to say that he's started his trip through the gauntlet," Pearl offered, sipping her drink.

"Sounds like it," Ben said as a waitress placed their order in front of them. "I wouldn't worry about it though-"

"I'm not worried about it at all, actually," Nik answered, grabbing a spoon. "Their opinions mean less than nothing."

"Oh I doubt that's entirely true. I mean if you're planning on staying here—and that trip to City Hall tells me you are—then you're going to need all the good opinions you can get."

"I'm trying to tell him..." Pearl murmured.

" _And I heard you_ ," Nik replied irritably. "Excuse me for taking issue with complete strangers questioning me about my private life. How would you feel in my place?"

"About the same," Ben answered. "But it comes with the territory in a place like this. I mean...do you think I like the fact that the whether or not I'm ever going out with Luka has been a topic of conversation for the past few months?"

" _Are you ever going to go out with him_?" Pearl asked.

Ben sighed heavily. "I will...if he ever asks me."

"Why does he have to ask you? Why don't you ask him?"

"Because if he says no…just…he need to ask me ok?"

"That's ridiculous," Pearl huffed. "What do you think, Nik?"

"I think I'd appreciate if whomever is attempting to bore a hole through the back of my skull, would stop right now," Nik said slowly, keeping his attention on his food.

Pearl frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Someone is watching me...and rather intently, I might add."

Pearl swiveled around on her stool to survey the dining hall. The lunch crowd was already petering out, leaving few still at tables. When her gaze landed on the culprit, she could help but roll her eyes heavenward.

"Lawd...Jesus..." She muttered as Ben followed her line of sight and began chuckling immediately.

"Well," Nik asked. "Who is it?"

" _The Whore of Babylon_ ," Pearl answered dryly, turning Ben's chuckling into full on laughter.

Nik turned to see who she was referring to and found a young brunette with an unfortunate haircut that did nothing for the sharp angles of her features.

"Her name's Vicki Donovan," Ben offered, leaning into him discreetly.

"Makes sense. She looks like a… _Vicki_ ," Nik replied, drolly before turning his back on her.

"Don't think that's gonna save you," Ben warned. "She's on her way over."

"Anything I should know before she gets here?"

"Yes..." Pearl answered. "Penicillin is your friend."

Before Nik could follow up with her on that comment, he felt Vicki's hand on his shoulder. He watched as it lazily slid down his bicep before settling on his forearm. Vicki perched herself on the stool next to him and smiled.

"You caught me staring. I should be embarrassed," she stated with some approximation of coquettishness.

"And yet something tells me you're not," Nik replied.

"Of course not. It's a waste of time," Vicki shrugged before glancing over his shoulder. "Hello Ben…Ms. Pearl."

" _Vicki_ …" the duo drawled.

"In case you haven't heard," Vicki continued, extending her hand. "I'm Vicki."

Nik shook her hand lightly. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Nik-."

"Oh I know who you are," she purred. "The whole town's just buzzing about little Bonnie Bennett's felonious ex-husband."

"That would be me," Nik agreed, nodding slowly.

Vicki eyed him appreciatively. "I have to admit, that little goody two-shoes has better taste than I thought."

"Apparently so," he answered smoothly catching the scent of tobacco on her breath.

"So what has you out and about today?" Vicki asked. When the rumor mill spit out that Bonnie Bennett's ex was in town, she did what she was certain most had also done. She Googled him.

The Mikaelson family fortune was worth _billions_. The man sitting next to her, worth several hundred million, most of which was tied up in investments. Restitution had been paid, but it was a relatively small amount considering. Which meant that Bonnie Bennett was currently the dumbest person she'd ever met. Anyone willing to divorce that much man _and_ that much money knew nothing about self-preservation.

"Nothing much. Ms. Pearl here has been nice enough to show me around. She's been quite invaluable." Nik answered. The smile too calculated. The randomly light touches, too obvious. If he concentrated, he could probably hear the wheels turning in her head.

"It's been my pleasure, Nik," Pearl chimed in. "How have you been, Vicki?"

"Oh you know…life, work…I'm busy. But I did want to let you know that a few friends are planning to visit in a few months and I highly recommended the Gregory Inn to them," Vicki answered, her eyes never leaving Nik.

"Well bless your heart…" the older woman cooed while Ben busied himself with drying off fresh glasses.

"Now while Ms. Pearl knows just about everything there is to know about Mystic Falls," Vicki continued, turning her attention back to Nik. "I like to think of myself as the unofficial Welcome Wagon."

"Well…that's one way to put it," Pearl murmured, earning a playful nudge from Ben.

Ignoring her, Vicki went on, "Maybe I could show you around some time too. Provide a different perspective on the inner workings of our town."

"A different perspective?"

"Mmhmm…You see given your recent history, I know how this town can be once you've been labeled…unsavory."

Nik leaned towards her, " _Unsavory_? Is that what I am?"

"Well…not to me. But then, I try not to judge a book by its cover," Vicki explained, lowering her voice. "And if you don't mind me saying…your cover's pretty nice. I wouldn't mind a peek." Her hand landed lightly on his thigh.

Pearl and Ben looked at each other pointedly.

 _Seven years in federal prison and I'm already bored_. If her aim was to assure him that he could have her without even a modicum of effort, then mission accomplished. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't hungry for release, regardless of how mediocre it might be. And besides, his better half was entangled with some mystery man if Pearl was to be believed. It was a small matter of taking the edge off and who could blame him, considering.

But hers isn't the softness his fingertips want to touch. Hers isn't the taste he wants in his mouth and an overabundance of gardenia isn't the scent that can drive him to distraction.

"I'm very flattered, Vicki. But I'm going to have to pass."

Vickie pouted, "You sure I can't change your mind?"

"Quite sure, love."

"I hope it isn't because of Bonnie," she said lightly. "I mean all things considered, I doubt she'd care."

Boredom gave way to irritation as Nik's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps not… _but I would_."

"Really? Why?"

"Because I too have better taste than you think."

Vicki inhaled sharply as her eyes hardened. She'd overplayed her hand with the Bonnie comment. But time was of the essence when it came to getting this fish on her hook before the other bitches in town figured out he was one of the most eligible men around…even with the boatload of felonies.

"Your loss, Nik," she said coolly as she stood. She'd give him a few days and try again. Men were like clocks; they always came around to her time of day.

"I'm proud of you, Nik," Pearl said, patting him on the back once Vickie was out of earshot. "There's plenty a man who's gone for it."

"No need to indulge in such folly with a woman such as yourself around," Nik leered.

Pearl laughed and smacked his arm. "Boy, just be glad you didn't meet me first. I'd have broken you."

#

After Nik and Pearl left The Grill, they continued to explore until Nik finally stopped short in front of an empty storefront.

"This used to be Fell's Video", Pearl explained. "Managed to survive LaserDisc and DVD…but it couldn't survive Amazon and Netflix. Place's been empty for close to two years."

She watched as Nik cupped his hands and peered through the window. There was very little to see inside other than its size of the showroom floor.

Nik glanced over to the full- color notice posted on the front door. _Gilbert Realty_. The dark-haired woman with the warm smile on the notice could be no other than Henry's godmother Elena.

 _Perfect_.

"You looking to lease or looking to buy?" Pearl asked.

"Buy…if it proves suitable," he murmured as he committed the Gilbert Realty address to memory.

"Suitable for what?" Pearl asked frowning.

"Suitable for keeping up my end of a bargain," he replied with a smirk.

When he didn't elaborate, Pearl sighed in exasperation. "Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Are you going to tell me who Bonnie's seeing?" He countered. Every attempt to glean more information had been pointedly rebuffed.

"Not yet. Nope," she answered with a smile.

" _Why not?_ " Nik asked rounding on her in exasperation.

"Because if I do, you'll do what most men do in situations like this: focus more on the other man instead of on the woman."

Nik ground his teeth in frustration. "She's my _wife_ , Pearl."

" _Ex-wife_ , bridge burner. And it's _Ms_. Pearl." She tugged on his arm and pulled him away from the storefront door.

"That's the problem with men," she continued. "And especially men like _you_. You never really accept the fact that once you've dumped someone, they're not obligated to leave the light on for you."

"I'm aware of that-".

" _Are you_? Because so far you've popped up out of nowhere and disrupted Bonnie's family life and her public life and now you want to go after her personal life. And you don't see the problem with that, do you?"

Nik's silence was enough confirmation.

"She can't keep you out of Henry's life; she can't keep you from living here. The only thing she's has any control over right now is her personal life. And you know what's going to happen if you start trying to mess that up like a jackass? She's going to want to beat your ass even more than she does already.

"I even told you he exists because you need to understand that you are _not_ the only option. Hell, as far as Bonnie's concerned, you're not an option at all. _That's_ what you need to focus on becoming; not going after some guy when you're already at a clear disadvantage with her. When you can show her that you're actually worth a damn then you'll be able to deal with him. But until then, _leave her personal life alone_. You'll only shoot yourself in the foot."

Nik left her words unacknowledged as they walked on. There was no way in hell he'd sit idly by while some idiot wormed his way into her heart. What if the bastard was already there? The thought alone made his eye twitch.

"You're going to call about the Fell building?" Pearl asked finally.

"That's the plan," Nik answered absently.

"Then in light of your encounter at The Grill, I should probably warn you."

"About what, Pearl?" Nik sighed.

"Elena spends her time showing properties, which means you're going to have to go through her assistant if you want to set up a viewing."

"That isn't unusual. So?"

"So…Elena's assistant also happens to be Vicki Donovan."

"You're joking." Nik scoffed only to frown when he saw that she was serious.

"Small towns, Nik." Pearl reminded him and patted his hand. "They can be a bitch."

 **BKBKBKBK**

"Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long…."

Bonnie fingers tapped the steering wheel in time with the music as she sang. It was good day to be out with winter having made an early exit. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the trees were beginning to bloom. It was enough to chase away the dark clouds of her thoughts long enough to enjoy a day of running errands for the shop.

With the exception of work, choir rehearsal and the day-to-day errands for herself and Henry, she'd kept a low profile the past few weeks. She wouldn't describe it as hiding exactly-more like wanting to avoid peering eyes and prying questions for as long as humanly possible.

Or maybe there was just one person she wanted to avoid.

After she set up the visitation schedule, she tried to keep her dealings with Nik to texting pick up and drop off times. When she did see him, she kept it brief as possible. Had it annoyed him? Probably. But she couldn't find it in herself to feel bad about it.

All things considered, he was getting off lucky.

Yes, avoidance had been ultimately pointless, but it had also done a damn fine job of keeping the knot in her gut from bursting into flames. Maybe she should let it. Maybe she should walk around like the fucking Human Torch and let that be the answer for everything.

" _Did you really get married and not tell anyone?_ " Torched.

" _How could you not know he was crooked?_ " Torched.

" _Who would've thought the daughter would be just as gullible as the father?_ " Torched.

" _What would Ms. Sheila think?_ "

Fucking torched.

She could turn this place into a cautionary tale where tourists are bussed in to view the devastation. " _Observe, ladies and gentlemen, the smoldering ruin that was once Mystic Falls. This is the tragic result for those who refuse to mind their own damn business and insist on answers they have no right to_. _Observe how the deceived and abandoned cope once their sorrows are laid bare for public consumption."_

A bit melodramatic maybe, but whatever works. Right?

Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't known that she couldn't avoid him for much longer. Henry was taken with him. The delight she heard in his voice when he spoke of his father was undeniable. And despite everything, it warmed her to know that at least for now, her son's budding relationship with Nik was flourishing; that in a rather short amount of time, he'd been able to make a positive impression on the boy and was able to make memories with him that he may not ever have had.

 _She'd spent the evening at choir rehearsal going over the new arrangements for Super Sunday. She'd skipped rehearsal two weeks in a row and it felt good to focus on something as benign as sheet music; even if doing so meant indulging sugary sweet inquiries into how she was doing._

 _After two hours of singing, she was home. Luka was the designated babysitter for several of the parents in the choir, and right now he'd be inside with seven children, including Henry. Luka was so great at keeping the kids occupied that the only thing that changed was whose house would host the babysitting for that night each week._

 _When she opened her front door, she expected to find Luka and a room full of well-fed first graders who'd finished their homework and were now engaged in whatever time-consuming task they'd spun for on the Activity Wheel._

 _What she found…was Luka and a room full of well-fed first graders—four boys and three girls-who'd finished their homework and were now painting each other's nails. This wasn't unusual as they'd hit Mani/Pedi on the Activity Wheel before; but what brought her light step to a grinding halt, was finding Nik in their midst._

 _Every surface as well as the floor had been covered in bath towels. Luka and most of the children had paired off to work on one another; while Nik sat on the sofa, both feet bare and resting on her towel-covered coffee table. Henry sat on the table between them; his tiny foot resting gently in Nik's hand as he applied neon green polish to his tiny nails._

 _Nik's own were being painted deep purple by Lola Matthews and Stanley Rogers; each child in possession of a large foot while all assembled appeared to be discussing the one topic that was always discussed when it came to Luka Martin these days._

 _Ben McKittrick._

 _"And how do you know he likes Ben?" Nik asked_

 _"Because when he sees him he gets all moo-moo eyes," Lola explained, lolling her head about until her blonde ringlets danced about her ears._

 _"I do not," Luka grumbled as he worked on Emily Mason's small foot._

 _"Do too!" All seven children bellowed._

 _"So why haven't you asked him out?" Nik asked, his brows drawn in concentration._

 _Luka looked up, his eyes widened in exasperation. "_ _Really_ _?"_

 _"Maybe he's scared he'll say no," Emily offered, the beaded ends of her braids clacked softly against one another and she waved her hands busily over Luka's still drying toes._

 _"Why would he say no? Luka's pretty." Lola asked._

 _"Luka's not pretty," Stanley said. "He's a boy so that means he's handsome."_

 _"Nonsense," Nik scoffed. "There are just as many pretty boys and handsome girls as there are pretty girls and handsome boys."_

 _"Really?" Henry asked. "So do you think Luka's pretty?"_

 _Bonnie watched as Nik focused his gaze on the teenager._

 _Originally from Fell's Church, Luka moved to town about a year and a half ago. His father was the reverend of one of the churches over there and had not taken kindly to news of his son's sexual orientation and threw him out. The generally quiet and withdrawn boy eventually found his way to Mystic Falls and came to Bonnie holding the Help Wanted sign she'd placed in the window in his hands._

 _It didn't take long for her to find out how he'd found himself in Mystic Falls. And when she realized that he had no place to live, she offered him the guest room at her house._

 _He lived with them for several months while attending high school and starting the process to become an emancipated minor._

 _Once the court granted his request, Elena offered him a restored cottage on the property and a part-time salary assisting her butler with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Salvatore estate._

 _With his independence and his livelihood in hand, Bonnie watched the once painfully shy boy blossom into a bright and funny young man._

 _She'd always wanted a younger sibling and it didn't take long for Bonnie to think of Luka as one. Which was why now she felt herself tensing—ready to strike should Nik unintentionally say something that might bruise the young man's still fragile ego._

 _"Yes, I'd say he's very pretty," she heard Nik reply finally, earning a dramatic eye roll and a smirk from the furiously blushing teenager._

 _"Told ya!" Lola declared triumphantly._

" _Hi Mama!" Henry called out, her presence finally detected._

" _Hey sweetie," Bonnie answered, plastering a smile on her face. "Mani/Pedi night huh? I'm jealous." She dropped her bag on a small table and ventured further into the living room; greeting the children with ooohs and aaahs at their handiwork on one another before her eyes finally landed on her ex-husband._

 _His dark-washed jeans had been rolled up to his knees, exposing long legs-shiny from whatever lotion they'd all used after their foot baths. The short sleeves of his Henley were rolled up as well—the likely result of children curious about the artwork that covered his arms—and his hair was a tousled mass of blond curls that annoyingly complemented the bemused expression on his face._

 _"You look ridiculous," Bonnie said, flatly._

 _"Henry asks me to hang out...I hang out," Nik shrugged. "You look lovely as always."_

 _And she did. The frown she was failing at smoothing from her brow and the hint of wariness in her eyes, did nothing to detract from effortless adorability of a caught-off-guard Bonnie._

" _Henry invited you?"_

" _No," he replied, switching to the boy's other foot. "I brought something for him to try on, actually. I didn't realize you'd be out."_

" _Well, that's what phones are for," Bonnie pointed out lightly._

 _Nik nodded, "True. But I was in the neighborhood and it's a small matter. Henry asked me to stay and Luka didn't object so here I am," he replied, his tone equally light. He fixed her with a look; daring her to allow his unexpected presence to cause her to make a scene in a room full of children. He knew she wouldn't, but he couldn't help the smirk of satisfaction that formed as she was now being forced to endure him. This was the longest she'd been in the same room with him since their visitation schedule began._

 _And while he may understand her wariness at his presence, it served her right for stubbornly continuing to keep herself away from him. It simply wouldn't do; mystery men be damned._

" _What did you bring him?" Bonnie asked tiredly._

" _That box over there," Nik answered, nodding in the direction of a nearby accent table. "It's a helmet. I wanted to make sure it fit before sending it off to be customized."_

" _Really?" Henry's eyes were wide as saucers as he began to squirm in excitement._

" _Hold still," Nik chided, having moved on to applying a top coat._

" _Um…I'm not letting my son ride on the back of that death machine," Bonnie gasped in horror._

" _But, Mom…."_

" _No_ _." Bonnie said, bluntly._

" _But that's not—"_

" _Henry—"_

" _One," Nik announced, his voice rising up above the brewing argument. "That is exactly what Pearl calls it and two…I have no intention of letting our son ride on the back of it either."_

 _Henry's face fell in disappointment, "Really?"_

" _Then what's the helmet for?" Bonnie demanded._

" _It's for the sidecar I commissioned for him."_

 _Henry's face brightened instantly. "No way!"_

" _Now wait a minute—". Bonnie started, walking over to retrieve the box. Sure enough, a small black helmet and a matching pair of goggles lay nestled inside._

" _Way," Nik answered with a wink. "It's being delivered later this week, hence the helmet." He grinned as Henry dissolved into excited chatter with Lola and Stanley at the news._

 _With Henry distracted, Bonnie took the opportunity to sit beside Nik, the helmet dangling from one hand._

 _"You should have talked to me about this first," Bonnie whispered harshly, leaning into Nik slightly to ensure that only he heard her._

 _His eyes closed briefly as the scent of honeysuckle filled his nostrils and he leaned toward her, making note of the way she jerked away from like she'd been burned when he was close enough for his shoulder to brush her._

 _"Perhaps if our conversations were longer than 140 characters I would have," he answered pointedly, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed at the dig._

I think I'm on to you, little witch _, he thought to himself._

 _Bonnie bit back a retort and inhaled sharply._

 _"This can't possibly be safe, Nik. He's a little boy," she reasoned, forgetting to keep her voice down._

 _"I'm a big boy!" Henry announced, overhearing her._

 _"I'm an expert rider," Nik offered before mother and son could start up again. "The helmet is top of the line and specially designed for a boy his size, as is the sidecar. He's more likely to break something in Pop Warner this summer and yet..."_

 _Bonnie ground her teeth as Nik's assurances and Henry's pleading eyes backed her into a corner._

 _"You can't go speeding all over town on that thing," Bonnie declared, finally. "Nothing over forty miles an hour."_

 _"Mom!" Henry cried, aghast. "Anything slower than seventy-five is a life not worth living."_

 _"_ _Who told you that_ _?_ _" Bonnie asked incredulously, already gearing up to glare at Nik for telling their son something so reckless._

 _"Aunt Bear," Henry said simply. "And she has a sports car."_

 _"_ _Does she now_ _?" Nik asked before pinning Bonnie with a smirk that Bonnie's hand itched to slap away._

 _Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply. "Just...Please be careful."_

 _Nik waited until her eyes finally found his before he answered. "I promise."_

 _He'd left shortly after finishing Henry's nails and helping Luka and the children set the living room back in order. Parents arrived and greeted Nik's presence with brows lost in hairlines and eyes full of questions. She offered them assurances that everything was fine as the house emptied of its guests_.

After that, she resolved to make herself more available.

 _She had to_. The fact of the matter was that there were conversations that would need to be had and decisions that would have to be made that demanded more than 140 characters as that sonofabitch put it.

And so the once minute long mumbled exchanges lengthened to simple chats of anywhere from five to ten minutes and always concerning Henry.

It was good. It was working despite the small voice calling down from the attic of her mind insisting that she was obligated to leave him bloodied and bruised and crawling for the nearest exit.

Considering that's exactly how she'd felt when she realized it was over, the small voice had a point.

Nevertheless, she grinned and bore it. Henry was happy and some semblance of normalcy seemed more attainable; making a day trip out of Mystic Falls a welcomed reward for the higher levels of adulthood she'd been hitting.

As for the heavy looks Nik sent her way on more than one occasion, she would ignore them for his sake.

She remembered those looks from the beginning; back when they were still feeling each other out. Midnight blue eyes full of curiosity and a willingness to soak up every detail. He looked at her like she was some great mystery to be solved and it thrilled her to no end to be found that interesting by someone like him.

But the girl that melted under those eyes had been left back in Chicago and the woman that remained didn't know what that look meant now and didn't want to know. And if he tried to press the issue-

A high-pitched whistle like that of tea kettle pulled her from her thoughts, followed by plumes of white smoke that were beginning to billow from underneath the truck's hood.

"Oh no…you've got to be kidding me…" Bonnie groaned as the whistling became a loud hiss and she pulled over to the side of the road.

She popped the hood and waved furiously at the smoke until it cleared enough to confirm her suspicions: the radiator was overheated and a gasket may have blown.

"Fuck!" she shouted at the sky and reached for her cell phone. No bars.

"Double fuck!"

Of course an otherwise trusty truck would choose to crap its pants in the Bermuda Fucking Triangle of cell phone reception.

She was closer to Fell's Church than Mystic Falls, and after closing the hood and locking the truck, she started walking in the direction of the former, holding her phone high above her.

She'd only been walking a few minutes—wondering how likely it was that she had somehow been cursed—when she heard the rumble of a motorcycle coming down the highway behind her.

 _It's not...It couldn't be...It better not be..._

Bonnie stopped walking and turned to see Nik riding towards her.

Question answered. She was cursed.

Nik slowed to a stop beside her. Even behind his aviator sunglasses, she could see his brows knit in concern.

"Bonnie? Your truck's back there...what are you doing out here?"

"Radiator's busted," Bonnie sighed. "Possibly a gasket."

"Why not just call a tow?"

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Bonnie snapped before sighing again.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"This section of Route 9 is notoriously bad for cell reception," she explained. "I was just going to walk until I picked up a signal or got to Fell's Church, whichever came first."

Nik pulled out his own phone to check. No bars.

"Well this won't do," he said, tucking the phone in his back pocket. "Hop on and I'll give you a lift into town."

Bonnie jerked, startled by the idea. "Um...thanks, but no. It's really not necessary. Fell's Church isn't that far off and I could use the exercise."

"Nonsense. As if _I_ would ever leave the mother of my child-", he countered dramatically.

"Ugh... _asshole_..." Bonnie muttered, rolling her eyes skyward.

"I believe the correct term is _Good Samaritan_ , love," Nik smirked, enjoying the way Bonnie's eyes narrowed in irritation.

His gaze continued to move lazily over her. Her skin was newly bronzed by the unseasonably warm weather they'd been getting. Even now, the faint sheen of perspiration made her glow as she stood in a t-shirt with the words _I'm not short, I'm concentrated_ emblazoned across the front and a pair of denim shorts that showcased a pair of legs that could only be described as sinful.

Her chocolate brown locks had been gathered into a messy bun and secured it with a pencil, and by the tightness around her mouth and the slight blush that was beginning to spread, he knew that his aviators did nothing to hide the fact that he was appreciating the view.

 _Good_.

"As I was saying," he continued. "As if I would ever leave the mother of my child alone on a deserted highway."

Bonnie bit back the urge to point out all the ways he'd left the mother of his child already.

"Like I said, thank you but it's really not necessary."

"Still stubborn about asking for and accepting help, are you?" Nik mused. "Or is it just _my_ help that's the problem?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Well, I have to wonder if you'd be so adamant in your refusal if someone— _anyone_ —else was offering assistance? I thought we were attempting to be friendly, weren't we? What's friendlier than giving you a lift?"

 _Could he stop trying to make me sound unreasonable? I have every right to be unreasonable, thank you very much!_

"Shouldn't you be wearing your helmet?" She blurted out, finally. "You're supposed to be setting an example for Henry."

Nik glanced around the empty highway. "I don't see Henry here, do you?" He asked, running his hand through windblown curls.

"That's not the point, Nik."

"No, it isn't," he agreed. "The point is that in the time it's taken to debate this, we could've been in Fell's Church with a tow already on its way; yet here we are." She could stand there looking like she wanted to run down the highway screaming like her hair was on fire if she wanted to; but they both knew that at the end of all that, she'd be sitting behind him on the way to Fell's Church.

Bonnie gnawed her bottom lip and resisted the urge to stamp her feet in frustration at the turn her day had taken; glaring as Nik leaned forward to rest his forearms on the handlebars.

"I don't bite, love," he said, keeping his tone was laced with a healthy dose of challenge and enough patronizing condescension to cause her stubborn little chin to jut defiantly into the watched as she closed her eyes for the briefest moment.

"Thank you for the offer, Nik. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide," she said, when her eyes opened.

The smile that graced her lips carried a shadow of malice with it that clashed with the conciliatory tone of her words. As if she'd forced the urge to commit bodily harm to mutate into politeness while the hard glint in her eyes vowed to claim her pound of flesh.

 _"She wants to kick my ass...as in_ _really_ _kick my ass..."_ He thought, remembering Pearl's words. He was tempted to find a nearby field and let her have a go at it; curious as to just how much of her anger she'd be willing to unleash. The thought alone caused a tightening in his jeans.

Bonnie's hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts as he watched her swing her leg over the bike and settling in behind him, placing her hands in her lap.

"You know...unless you actually _want_ to go flying off the back, you're going to have to hold on, love," he advised and waited until she finally slid her arms around his waist and scooted forward; her fingers clasped together.

"Ready when you are," Bonnie said, her eyes continued to shoot daggers.

Nik turned and revved the engine; hiding his smile. The woman he loved was currently wrapped around him; her thighs pressed against his, the swell of her breasts at his back. Did it matter that she was likely mulling over all the ways she wanted to make him bleed?

 _Not really_.

A/N: I hate that this took so long to update thanks to work, lost files and rewrites. Anyway I hope you like it and thanks so much for the reviews. The next one will pick up with Klonnie's day out, a flashback, a wee bit of smut, a shotgun, a mystery man and church hats.

TheOneTrueBear: LMAO I love Nearl for Nik and Pearl's Brotp name!


	6. The Right Hand of Fellowship

_I know this took forever but I hope the fact that it's nearly 30 pages long makes up for that LOL. Hope you enjoy!_

 **The Right Hand of Fellowship**

 _Nine years ago…_

 _He tasted like blackberries today._

 _They'd been spending all their free time together since that night on the boardwalk two months ago. She didn't want to assume that they were "dating" but what else did spending all of your free time together mean?_

 _Nik's lips hovering just below her earlobe pulled her from her thoughts. The warmth of his breath on her skin sent shivers down her spine and when she felt those lips latch on to deliver slow open-mouthed kisses, she couldn't help the moan that escaped her._

 _His hands kneaded her flesh as the strength in them pulled her ever closer; melding her body to fit against his as he eased her onto her back. She ran her fingers through his curls as the scruff of his cheeks grazed her, cementing in her mind that there was nothing better than being in his arms._

 _His mouth found hers again; kissing her so deeply she thought herself likely to melt into a puddle only to spill off of his couch and onto the floor. It wasn't fair that he was so good at this. Sure, age and experience were a factor but God...did his every touch have to make her senses want to abandon her so easily?_

 _However, when his fingers caressed her inner thigh and began to move higher, her body stiffened and she gently pushed herself away from him in mild alarm and genuine embarrassment._

 _"What's wrong?" Nik asked, his eyes heavy-lidded and full of promise. Her Grams would have called them bedroom eyes and she fully understood why._

 _"I...I need to tell you something," she stammered. "I should've said something before but..."_

 _Nik lifted himself off of her; giving her room to sit up. "What is it?"_

There has to be a way to say things without feeling like a total idiot, right? _She furiously wracked her brain in hopes of finding one, only to come up empty._

 _"I'm...a virgin..." She blurted out, already feeling her face warm as she avoided his gaze._

 _"Yes, love. I know," Nik replied, not entirely sure why that bit of information was keeping him for tasting her skin again._

 _"You know?!" Bonnie cried, mortified. "How do you know?!"_

 _Nik smiled fondly, "It isn't hard to figure out if you're paying attention."_

 _"Oh my God...Oh my God...somebody shoot me now," she groaned hiding her face in her hands as she scooted further away. She wondered if she could possibly embarrass herself more by bolting, when she felt Nik tug gently on her wrists; prying her hands from her face._

 _"You're not embarrassed, are you?"_

 _"Of course, I am!" She cried. "I'm a nineteen-year old virgin and you're...not."_

 _"No, I'm not. But a lack of experience isn't something to be embarrassed about, love."_

 _"It is when you're dealing with something who has all the experience," Bonnie pointed out glumly._

 _"Look," she continued, sighing heavily. "I know Ishould have said something and I don't want you to think I'm trying to waste your time-"_

 _"Bonnie what are you talking about?" Nik asked, exasperation coloring his words._

 _"I'm talking about the fact that I'm not ready, Nik," she blurted out. "And I don't know when I will be. I also know that making out isn't going to be enough for you after a while because you're used to having certain things—things I know you can definitely get somewhere else—and I...It's not fair to ask you to wait. But at the same time the idea of you going somewhere else makes me nuts which isn't fair either and I'm just-" Her words had suddenly been cut off when he kissed her._

 _"What was that for?" She asked breathlessly._

 _"You just admitted to wanting me all to yourself," Nik announced with a self satisfied smirk._

 _Bonnie blinked rapidly. "That's what you got? Out of everything I just said, that's what you got?"_

 _"Well there was a considerable amount of blathering surrounding it, but that did seem to be the most prescient point."_

 _"Nik this is serious," Bonnie insisted wearily._

 _"Yes, Bonnie. It is. It's quite serious," He agreed, his tone suddenly brooking no argument. "So you'll pardon me if I choose not to indulge you some nonsensical rant about going somewhere else. What does that even mean? What were you expecting me to do? Wash my hands of you to go find the first bleary-eyed vixen that crossed my path? Have you not been paying attention?"_

 _Bonnie stared at him, her eyes wide._

" _If my interest in you were solely that than yes, I can and should go elsewhere. But it isn't; and deep down I believe you're fully aware of that fact." He caught her stubborn little chin between his thumb and forefinger when she blushed and tried to look away._

 _He was working hard to not be offended by her innocent assumption about his intentions. Of course thoughts of burying himself deep inside her plagued both day and night; but she'd also been taking up more and more space in his...heart. And the more space she took up, the more he wanted to give; better judgement be damned._

 _Because let's be honest…he would never risk federal prosecution and possibly life in prison for a simple shag._

 _But she didn't know that. She couldn't know that, not yet anyway._

 _"From the moment you toppled over on me, I've wanted you in my life," he continued. "Yes, that includes in my bed; but while that might be an important part of my life, it isn't the only part and it certainly isn't the part that would deter me from my original goal. So, if I have to wait until you're ready, then it'll be time well spent since I'll be spending it with you. Do you understand?"_

 _His eyes held her, urging her to explore the length and breadth of feeling behind his words. As charming as her naïveté could be, he had no intention of allowing misplaced skittishness to undermine what he knew in his bones was taking place between them._

" _Now…what was that about wanting me all to yourself?" He asked with a smile._

 _Her own laughter at that caught her off guard, so floored was she by his way he looked at her made her feel as though her heart would sprout wings and take flight; it made her feel brave._

 _She reached out and cupped his cheeks, "I do," she said. "I do want you all to myself…but...don't you have…needs?"_

" _Damned right I do," he snorted. "And so do you. But there are ways to tend to both…"_

 _Bravery turned into daring as Bonnie's eyes lit up with intrigue. There was a relief that came with his understanding and with it a reassurance that her limits weren't something to be ashamed of or dismissed. Whenever she'd stopped Jeremy, he'd turn sullen and she was left feeling like she'd committed a horrible offense._

" _What ways?" She asked._

 _Nik leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "Well that depends on how much you want me to take off, little witch."_

 _Bonnie's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she watch him peel his shirt from his body._

 _Her fingers had nervously danced along his toned muscles before, but she'd never actually gotten a good look; her eyes usually closed or the room dim. But now her eyes were open and the sight of him made her throat dry._

 _Nik sat back and waited for her to make a move; wanting her to be as comfortable exploring his body and equally comfortable his exploration of hers._

 _Shyly, Bonnie placed her hands on his bare chest; the warmth of his skin calming her nervous fingers. She planted a kiss on his collarbone as her hand began to wander, stopping at his ribcage when she felt him stiffen slightly and heard him choke back a laugh._

" _You're ticklish," she giggled at the revelation._

 _Nik smiled and inclined his head until his nose rubbed against hers. "If you tell anyone, I'm going to lock you in here and never let you out," he replied before kissing her. He'd meant it to be quick peck, but Bonnie's hands came up to cup his face and held him there as she deepened the kiss._

 _She scooted even closer to him and felt her insides flutter as her tongue played with his._

 _When his arms finally came around her, she leaned back, guiding them both down to the sofa cushions; the delightful pressure of his body covering hers no longer bringing with it the bells of apprehension._

 _But because she was Bonnie Bennett and clearly incapable of having a "normal" make-out session, she misjudged her proximity to the edge of the sofa and suddenly felt herself falling. Her arms tightened around him and they both tumbled to the floor._

 _Bonnie's back hit the floor with a soft thud; the laughter that bubbled out of her on impact warmed him as he braced himself with his arms and hovered over her._

 _When she quieted, he bent down and kissed her with a tenderness that had her arms pulling him closer. He kissed her with such deliberation that she found herself taking the initiative to deepen it, her tongue lapping at his lips until they parted._

 _He lowered his body until she felt the weight of him and the nervousness that tended to spring up within was noticeably absent now and which one of his large hand gripped her waist and molded her body close enough to feel the hardness through his jeans, she didn't back away from it. There was a security to his embrace; that she could enjoy as much as she dared whenever she dared and it was enough for her to loosen her hold on him._

 _Nik's hands palmed her breasts through her tank top; his thumb causing her nipples to harden and strain painful against the confines of her bra. Bonnie gasped at the sensation as he licked and sucked every portion of her skin within his reach._

 _Her skirt having ridden up, she felt his thigh pressed against the crotch of her dampening panties. The friction she caused when her hips began to grind against him made her ache in a way that had her fingers itching to do what they'd been doing nearly every night since the day she met him._

 _But she couldn't do that…not in front of him, could she?_

 _The knowing look Nik paused to give her before claiming her lips again told her that she could._

 _Tentatively, slipped her fingers past her panties and towards her mound. They slid through her fold and she moaned into his mouth in response. She fingered herself slowly, enjoying the thrill of doing something so private in in front of him. The thought alone caused her fingers to work in earnest and she felt her core begin to tighten around itself._

 _When she felt his fingers entwine with her own, she didn't launch herself away from as she would have done only a hour earlier. Instead her eyes found his as her hips continued to work in concert with their efforts; Nik's thumb beginning to circle her nub as he gazed down at her; intent on capturing every minute detail of her pleasure as her release neared._

 _Their fingers, slick with her wetness, slid over each other as she felt the pressure within her build and stars began to explode behind her eyes._

 _ **#**_

 _Bonnie awakened to the darkness of Nik's bedroom. He'd asked her spend the night and given her one of his shirts to wear. She'd fallen asleep snuggled next to him, her body still tingling from her introduction to the many ways they could tend to their needs. His body was so warm and the circle of his arms so inviting that she could already feel herself being coaxed back into slumber._

 _Instead, she crept from his bed as soundlessly as she could and rustled around in her purse until she found her phone. She padded on bare feet to his pristine bathroom. She carefully lowered the toilet seat cover and sat down, her fingers already flying across the keyboard of her phone._

 _Me: You up?_

 _Lucy: More or less. Since I'm home and ur not…you ride the lightning yet? :P_

 _Me: No! And FYI we're in no rush. So there! LOL_

 _Lucy: Is that so?_

 _Me: Yep. We talked and we're gonna wait until I'm ready._

 _Lucy: Woah. So does Bon Bon officially have a new man?_

 _Me: Wouldn't I need an old man in order to have a new one?_

 _Lucy: All of sudden Jeremy don't count! Bwhahahahahahaha!_

 _Bonnie chewed her bottom lip before her thumbs went back to work._

 _Me: Jeremy never made me feel like this._

 _Lucy: Well damn...bout time I get to live vicariously thru u for a change._

 _Me: Oh ha ha. But I meant it Luce. I've never felt this before and it's scary...but in a good way, ya kno?_

 _Lucy: Yeah I've been there, kiddo._

 _Me: So what does it mean?_

 _Bonnie's eyes widened at Lucy's reply. It was a question that had been running through her mind for weeks and after tonight it had begun stomping around in combat boots; cementing itself in her brain and demanding that she admit she already knew the answer._

 _She ended her text with Lucy, but her cousin's reply was now emblazoned behind her eyes as she made her way back into Nik's bedroom. She crawled into bed and smiled when he reached for her and pulled her close; his lips dropping sleepy kisses on her forehead before he drifted off again._

 _As she felt her own sleepiness beginning to seep and take over, she never felt more certain that nothing felt warmer or safer than being in Nik Mikaelson's arms—the reason best explained by her loud mouth cousin's text:_

 _Lucy: IT MEANS YOU'RE FALLING IN LOVE, DUMBO!_

 **BKBKBKBK**

She was fit to be tied, as they say. And while he'd never had reason to experience this side of her during their courtship and marriage, he found he liked it quite a bit. Her irritation at her current predicament made her eyes flash beneath the midday sun. Even the way she failed at pursing her full lips into empty flat lines pleased him.

In truth, there was nothing about Bonnie Bennett-Mikaelson— _yes, Mikaelson, damn it_ —that didn't please him, not even her ire.

Upon arriving in Fell's Church, he took her to the mechanic he'd hired to oversee the transport of a few of his favorite cars from England to Mystic Fall, only to discover that Stefan Salvatore—the owner of Salvatore Auto was yet another person who'd known Bonnie for most of her life.

He noted how familiar they were; how his tightly wound wife relaxed into warm smiles and happy embraces upon seeing him.

He also noted how Salvatore's eyes stayed glued to Bonnie's legs when she wasn't looking; the way he held her hand longer than necessary and took every opportunity to be as close to her as possible.

For her part, she remained oblivious to the mechanic's interest. It wasn't surprising given that she'd always been blind to the affections of others. She was the sun; completely unware of how many went blind staring at her brilliance.

One thing was for certain though: for all of his interest, Stefan Salvatore was not her mystery man.

After Stefan sent one of his employees to fetch her truck from the highway and promised to call her once he knew more about its condition, Nik settled into convincing Bonnie into letting him assist in completing whatever errand had put her on the road to Fell's Church in the first place.

"It really isn't necessary," she said.

"Are we really about to have this conversation again?" He asked. "Because my position hasn't changed in the last 30 minutes."

"I'm sure you have more important things to do," she argued.

"And yet I can't think a single one more important or more interesting," he countered. "Besides, which would you prefer: putting up with me here, or back in Mystic Falls?"

"How about neither?" Bonnie asked, her voice bright with sarcasm.

"Alas, there is no third option, love," he answered smugly.

He ended up taking her to the office of the local paper so she could place an ad for the shop's Spring Sale and stopped into a number of small shops that also sold her products. Now they were riding toward the opposite end of town towards an apiary with the unfortunate name of Sweetie's Bees and Trees.

Sweetie was an elderly gentlemen who greeted them with a warm smile and armed them both with mason jars filled with ice cold sweet tea. After escorting them to his tasting room, Sweetie left them to sample his most recent batches of honey which were featured in a number of Bonnie's products.

They spoke very little, Bonnie choosing to immerse herself into each errand. By his account, Nik could easily see that she was a well-regarded businesswoman in Fell's Church and the relationships she'd formed both here and back in Mystic Falls proved her to be both shrewd and fair minded.

He watched as she sampled each jar of honey; making notes about each flavor on a small note pad. When she finally made her decisions and placed her order, Sweetie encouraged them to explore the orchards while they were waited for Stefan's call.

The trees had not yet begun to bloom, but the with the birds returning to the warmer climate, the stillness lived between the rows of barren trees was punctuated with their song.

Bonnie tried to ignore him as much as humanly possible, but with her plans to spend the day not thinking about him or the disruption he'd caused in her life completely shot to hell, she could at least get a few of her questions answered after so many years.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked finally.

"You can ask me anything, love."

"Why bank robbery? After you got arrested it didn't take much to figure out what you'd been doing for your-what did you call it-exit strategy. But why rob banks? Couldn't think of a way to legally divest from your family's money?"

Nik smiled as they walked. "Has there ever been a time when you wanted something you weren't meant to have and took it anyway? Do you remember how it felt to put your hand in the cookie jar and _not_ get caught? I excel at a great many things, but very few brought me quite the same satisfaction."

"How long were you planning to do it?"

"Ironically enough, that last job was meant to be the last. When you're in that line of work, the longer you keep at it, the more likely you are to be caught."

"What about the others? They got away Scott-free, right? Why didn't you?"

"I didn't follow the plan," he replied.

"What plan?"

"After each job, we'd scatter off until time to reconvene for the next one. After the last, we were each bound for the non-extradition destination of our choice—mine being Maldives."

Bonnie chewed her lip thoughtfully. She'd wanted to know why he'd chosen a life of crime, but now she was treading into dangerous territory and there were questions that lay ahead that she'd promised herself years ago that she didn't need to know the answers to after going so long without them.

And yet she wanted them anyway.

"Why didn't you follow the plan?" She asked, softly.

"Why do you think?"

"Please don't feed me some line about it being for Henry and me," she scoffed, her feet already rejecting the idea as she increased her pace enough to put distance between them.

He caught up with her within a few strides and wrapped a hand around one of her arms halting her. "Why not? It's the truth. I wanted you both with me. I tried to think of a way but I couldn't-"

"You couldn't figure out how to convince me to go without telling me the truth," she concluded.

"That and I didn't want you to have to make that choice," he admitted.. If I'd told you the truth and asked you to run, you'd have had to change your identity and potentially never see your friends, your family, your home again. I couldn't ask you to do that, Bonnie. I was going to stay and hope that with everyone else gone, my name would continue to let me hide in plain sight."

"But that didn't happen. Instead you got caught and then treated your wife and son like we didn't exist," she gritted out, her eyes hard as she yanked her arm from his grip.

"They had me dead to rights and I wasn't going to make a deal and sell out my mates. I was going to prison for 25 years at least, Bonnie. I didn't want you or Henry to see me like that. I didn't want your life with me reduced to hour-long visits once a month. I didn't want Henry's only memory of me to come from behind bulletproof glass." She had to understand that he thought he was doing the best thing for both of them.

He watched as she stepped away from him, her head tilted to the sky as she his words became the missing puzzle pieces from the picture of their marriage.

"Wow..." She intoned.

"Wow?" Nik echoed. "Is that really all you have to say?"

"Well what would you prefer, Nik? Would you prefer it if I pointed out that decisions like that aren't supposed to be made on your own? That you arbitrarily went around making decisions about my life- _our life_ -without me…or wow?

"I would like for you to at least try to understand, Bonnie."

"I do get it Nik. I think a part of me always did— _especially after New York_. You thought you were doing what was best. But the problem I'm having with your reasoning is the fact even though I trusted you with everything, you couldn't trust me enough to take a chance on what I thought we had. As far as you were concerned I couldn't handle the truth before you got busted and I didn't deserve an explanation after."

Her accusations lay at his feet and he couldn't refute them, not in any way that made them any less true. Telling her that he feared the truth would lead to her rejection didn't change the heart of what he'd done or how she felt about it.

"Is this how it's going to be?" He asked finally. "I try to apologize and you won't let me, we agree to be civil and you treat my presence like the plague, I try to show you that I'm not here to hurt you or anyone else and you act like you want to beat me within a inch of my life—"

"Because I'm angry, Nik!" She snapped. "Don't you get that? You think I like feeling like this? I wasn't raised to hold anger in my heart but it's there goddamn it and I don't know how to get it out and it's all your fault. So I'm sorry if that inconveniences your second chance at life, but you're just gonna have to live with it until I figure out how to get rid of it."

Bonnie pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an exasperated sigh

"Look, you're going to be out of Ms. Pearl's in less than a month. After which I fully expect you to set off in search of whatever city that suits you. And that's a good thing, because I'd really prefer to sort through all of this without you being within punching distance."

He was about to tell her that any notion of him leaving was a pipe dream when her cell phone rang.

Bonnie answered it quickly, grateful for the distraction as Stefan Salvatore delivered the good news and the bad news.

#

Nik slowed his bike to stop in front of Bonnie's house. The good news was that her truck could be fixed. The bad news was that the parts he needed to fix it wouldn't arrive until the next day and after their talk, all she wanted was to head home.

He felt Bonnie dismount and looked up in time to see an old pick-up truck pulling into her driveway. Henry sat in the passenger seat and the driver could be none other than Bonnie's father.

 _When it rains it pours._

He watched as Henry climbed down from the truck and ran across the front yard waving at them.

"Hi mama! Hi Nik!" He called as his grandfather's truck pealed out of the driveway to the sound of screeching tires.

"Hey, baby," Bonnie replied tiredly when he reached them. "Where's Gramps going?"

"He said he'll be back. He went home to get Retta."

Bonnie nodded absently and turned to thank Nik for the ride and finally put an end to a surprisingly shitty day when the boy's words finally registered.

"Wait…" She started, frowning down at him. "Did he really say that?"

Henry nodded, eyes wide.

"Shit," she muttered before turning to Nik. "You need to leave. Now."

Nik did his own bit of frowning at the urgency in her voice. "What's wrong? Who's Retta?"

"Retta's not a _who_ , Retta's a _what_. _Loretta_. His shotgun."

She crouched down to face Henry. "Sweetie, why don't you go inside and get cleaned up," she said, handing him her house keys.

"Ok…bye Nik!"

"Surely you don't think he's coming back here to shoot me, do you?" Nik asked, as he watched Henry sprint up the front porch.

"Well he's not coming back here to shoot me!" Bonnie hissed in exasperation. Before her eyes widened at the sound of Rudy's truck rumbling towards them.

"Oh god…" she groaned. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with this first meeting of her father and her ex-husband, but Rudy jumping from his truck wielding his double-barreled shotgun, ruined all hope of a raincheck.

"Daddy, no," Bonnie declared, placing herself in front of Nik with her arms outstretched. "If you want to get out of this alive, please let me do the talking," she muttered over her shoulder.

"Get out of the way, Bonnie," Rudy ordered, gun and eyes both trained on Nik.

So this was the guy. When he'd pulled up to drop Henry off and saw Bonnie sitting behind Nik on his bike, he'd known right away who he was. He didn't know what she'd been doing riding around with him and he didn't care. All he saw were the tear-stained cheeks that had greeted him every morning for nearly a year. All he heard were the muffled sobs that had visited her every night.

The next thing he knew, he was spinning the combination on his gun safe.

"Daddy…you can't kill him," Bonnie said.

"Why not?"

"Because…there's a neighborhood full of eyewitnesses?"

"You know damn well they'd help hide the body."

"Ok yeah they would," she admitted "But like it or not, Nik is Henry's father. Do you really want to shoot his father in our front yard?"

Rudy had held his tongue against Henry's exuberance over Nik's presence and her own silent pleas for patience. She'd hoped that Nik would be bored with Mystic Falls and on his way out before a run in with her father. _Why was he still here dammit?!_

"Bonnie…"

"Look, the truck broke down on the way to Fell's Church. Nik was just giving me a ride home, ok?" She wrapped a hand around the barrel of the shotgun and began to slowly lower it.

"Go home, Dad…please. Henry and I'll be over later to make you dinner, ok?" she promised as the gun came to rest at her father's side; Rudy's eyes, still focused on the source of her weariness.

"You're lucky she was here, boy," he said finally, before he glanced at Bonnie. She nodded encouragingly at him until the tension in his shoulders eased enough for him to exhale slowly before he backed off and made his way back to his truck.

"Glad to know you aren't angry enough to want me dead," Nik said.

"Oh, I haven't wanted you dead in five years at least," Bonnie sighed.

"Well…that's a bit of progress I suppose," he replied with a wry smile as she turned toward the house.

"Would you?" Nik asked, halting her steps. "If I'd told you the truth, would you have run away with me?" The question had been banging around in his head since the orchard.

 _Yes. Because I was young and stupid and loved you past all good sense. Because we were a family and I trusted you to take care of us. Because I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere you weren't._

Bonnie turned to look back at him. Each breath became a polishing of her armor; a hammering out of the dents the day created.

"In the words of Kanye…I guess we'll never know," she shrugged with a rueful smirk.

 **BKBKBKBK**

Nik parked in front of the Fell building and waited.

A cursory glance through the recently cleaned front windows revealed Elena Gilbert-Salvatore fussing about with whatever final preparations before his appointment. Not in any hurry, he continued to sit astride his bike as he surveyed the streets his possible new business venture would sit.

From what he'd already gather about the layout of Mystic Falls, the location was perfect. Technically it was still a part of the downtown area, but this section of Elm street was far enough removed from the usual activity of the area as to be a location one sought out specifically. Considering what he hand in mind, it was both perfect and several years overdue.

 _"Do you ever feel like you're not doing what you're meant to do?" Bonnie asked from her perch. With the relatively mild weather they'd been having, they'd regularly taken time to spend on the roof of Nik's apartment building—him finishing up a cityscape he was painting while she studied for finals._

 _"I think we all do at one time or another," he replied, glancing towards her as he mixed paint colors._

 _"What did you do when you felt like that?"_

 _Started robbing banks, he thought. "I took care of it."_

 _Bonnie frowned. "Ok...but how? I mean you've said you hate looking after your family's businesses, so how are you taking care of it?"_

 _"I thought about what I'd rather be doing and set that as a goal. Everything I've done since then has been in the service of meeting that goal." He watched the way her teeth worried away at her bottom lip as she absently dog-eared the pages of her textbook._

 _"What's brought this about, love?" He asked, setting down his brush and palette._

 _"I don't know," Bonnie sighed. "I guess I thought I'd have a better idea of what I wanted to do with my life by now."_

 _"You're a freshman in college, Bonnie. It's not like you don't have time to figure it out. Wasn't that part of the reason you moved to Chicago in the first place; give yourself time to figure it out?"_

 _"Yes but...what if what you want to do makes you feel like you've been wasting your time instead of just doing it?"_

 _"What would you rather be doing?"_

 _"It's silly…" Bonnie muttered._

 _"I seriously doubt that," Nik replied. "So out with it."_

 _Bonnie set aside her book when he came closer. "Well...you know how much I love my Gram's cookbook, right?" She'd finally gotten the nerve to show the treasured to him the last time he'd been invited to dinner with her and Lucy. The book contained not only contained a wealth of culinary recipes that had been passed down, it also contained all of Sheila Bennett's recipes, formulas and notes for all of her home remedies; some passed down and some of her own creation. She'd spent over an hour shyly flipping through its pages and showing Nik recipe after recipe and pointing out the medicinal properties of each._

 _"Of course, and with good reason," he said._

 _"The other day I was out with Lucy and we came across this little homeopathic store and..."_

 _"And you found yourself critiquing the merchandise," Nik finished._

 _"A little," Bonnie blushed. "It's not that there was anything wrong, it's just that...I know I can make better and more effective products. And that got me to thinking about maybe opening a shop of my own one day."_

 _"And that's what you want to do?" He asked._

 _"When I try to see myself years from now, all I see is me owning a little shop somewhere," Bonnie explained. "One of the things I really admired about Grams is how much she cared for everyone around her. Cared enough to do whatever she could with the knowledge she had just to make their lives a little easier. When you couldn't afford a doctor bill for a common ailment, there she was with another option that was just as effective if not more so. And I think I want to be that kind of help to people too._

 _"Plus...I just love cooking, Nik. That's what my Grams used to call it. She was always cooking something up for one person or another. I love all of it. From growing my own ingredients to turning them into something that really helps people. I practically know all of Gram's recipes by heart, but I've started creating my own too and I have all these ideas and...it's not painting, but it just_ _feels_ _like art. Does that make sense?"_

 _"I'm still waiting to hear the silly part, love," Nik offered and earned an elbow to his ribs._

 _"I believe you can do anything you set your mind to," he said finally. "And if this is the direction your heart wants you to follow, then you should do whatever it takes to get there, otherwise what's the point?"_

 _"I think I'm going to need to change majors..." Bonnie said as she chewed her lip thoughtfully._

 _"You major in Liberal Arts. Anything you change it to will be an improvement," Nik quipped and dodged another elbow._

 _"Botany," Bonnie said, firmly. "I'm going to change my major to Horticultural Science."_

 _"Hmm...a science major," Nik mused as he gently pulled her from her perch and into his arms. "I suspect you'll be quite fetching in a lab coat." His mind already drawing up images of her wearing one and very little else._

 _Bonnie slid her arms around his neck and leaned into him. "Get your mind out of the gutter," she chided._

 _"But it's so much fun down there," he pouted and nuzzled her neck._

 _"Ok, you can head back down there after you tell me about your goal." she replied._

 _"What do you think it is?" Nik asked._

 _"I think the obvious guess would be your paintings. Showing them in galleries or accepting commissions," she stated. "But then I've seen you while you work and I think what you create is too personal to you for that. I can't see you making any of your pieces available for public consumption because I don't think that's why you paint."_

 _He almost kissed her then. How was it possible that someone who'd known him only a few months understood something that his own father had been unable to grasp? How many times had Mikael ridiculed and harangued him about his paintings? Browbeat him over his insistence in indulging in a meaningless hobby that did nothing to either elevate himself or increase the family coffers?_

 _He knew he was talented. He knew many of his pieces would likely sell. But suggesting that he turn any of them over to the private collection of some wealthy aficionado was akin to asking someone to take years of faithfully written personal journals and publish them._

 _The canvas was both his confessional and his refuge. There simply wasn't a dollar amount persuasive enough to let any of them go._

 _"Freedom," he said softly._

 _Bonnie frowned in confusion, "Freedom? From what?"_

 _"From all things Mikaelson of course." He'd spoken of his family before, but he didn't know if he could adequately explain his feelings for either his parents or his siblings. They were a greedy, self-serving, spiteful lot who hid their deeds behind money and title. If nothing else, they'd taught him all about hiding in plain sight while robbing someone blind._

 _And any deviation from the family line was met with scorn, vindictiveness and in his father's case, violence._

 _"What I'm doing right now...I'm not just begrudgingly overseeing my portion of the family's affairs, Bonnie," he explained. "I'm working on my exit strategy and when I'm finished, I'll be rid of them; part and parcel."_

 _"And after that, then what?"_

 _"Then, I live a life that's truly mine," he answered. "I've actually fancied the idea of owning a bar."_

 _Bonnie's eyes widened at his admission. "Really?"_

 _Nik nodded slowly choosing his words carefully. He may not tell her the truth in its entirety, but she was owed some of it._

 _"Yes. I think I'd enjoy owning a place for those with a genuine appreciation of music. Drinking...dancing...a stage for live music...and a juke box curated by yours truly."_

 _It was the truth. When it was all said and done and the Night Owls parted ways, he had every intention of opening a small bar in the beautifully extradition-free Maldives. Perhaps he'd wear button-down shirts with ridiculously tropical prints on them while he plied patrons with too much rum._

 _Bonnie smiled at the idea. She honestly hadn't expected him to come up with something so normal considering he carried himself in a way that made him seem larger than life. Own his own country? Sure. But a bar?_

 _"Tell you what," she began. "By the time I open my shop, I expect you to have opened your bar. Deal?"_

 _Nik frowned at the pinky finger she now held out to him. "You must be joking."_

 _"A pinky swear is a_ _very_ _serious oath, Nik," she said as she wriggled the small digit impatiently; her eyes dancing._

 _"Fine," he agreed, dryly as he grasped her pinky with his own._

 _"And you have to promise that when you open, I'll always have free drinks," she added._

 _The comment was intended to be harmless. Instead, it coiled in his gut and sank like a stone._

 _How long had he spent planning for the day he'd be free of the Mikaelson legacy and live out the rest of his days on a tiny bit paradise? The robbery of Riverside Savings & Loan had been perfect. The crew walked away with 15 million and he'd been back in Bonnie's arms two weeks later. He wouldn't meet up with the guys to plan the next heist in New Jersey for another month. Seven jobs down...three more to go._

 _The end was in sight. But where it should have been clearer than ever, there stood his little witch with a giant question mark over her head. What of her? When had she become such a factor that life on a tiny bit of paradise without her lost its appeal?_

 _He'd known the risks of pursuing anything with her as well as how much more complicated it all would become the closer he got to achieving his goal. And yet he'd still let her crawl into his heart to take up as much space as she liked._

 _How would he bring himself to say goodbye to her?_

 _He wouldn't, that's how._

 _He was the man with the plan. The one who could think his way out of any situation. If he was unwilling to let Bonnie go, then he would simply need to recalibrate his plans to include her. He ran too great a risk of losing her if he told the truth; and remaining in the states to be with her ran an even greater risk..._

 _"Well?" Bonnie asked, insisting on an answer and pulling him from his thoughts._

 _Nik's released her finger and wrapped his arms around her. "Give me a moment...I'm figuring out how massive a dent such a promise would make in my liquor inventory."_

 _Bonnie gasped in faux outrage before smacking his arm. "You'd better be glad I love you-"_

 _Her eyes widened in shock; as if she hadn't realized she'd said those words aloud. Before she could wriggle from his grasp and scamper away in embarrassment, he cupped her rapidly reddening face in his hands and kissed her deeply._

 _"I-" she started, her mind frantically grasped for a way out._

 _Another kiss swallowed any means of escape._

 _"You don't-" She hadn't meant to say it and she needed to tell him that it didn't mean he had to feel the same way. That-_

 _He kissed her again and her thoughts scattered with no hope of returning._

 _Nik held her there until he felt her body relax into his; fully intent on kissing her until any foolish notion of taking back or qualifying what she'd said disappeared right along with any thoughts of his being without her._

 _He finally let her come up for air and pressed his forehead against hers._

 _"I love you too."_

Nik opened the now unlocked door to the Fell Building and entered.

"Good, you're on time," Elena remarked, curtly.

"I usually am. Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Gilbert-Salvatore," he answered, extending his hand.

"I'd like to say it's a pleasure but I'm not a fan of lying," she answered smoothly and ignored his hand.

Pearl had spent the past few days briefing him on everything he'd need to know when dealing with Bonnie's best friends.

" _Caroline and Elena are always going to have Bonnie's back," she'd said. "But between the two of them, the one more willing to listen and who might actually show you an iota of compassion, is Elena. So tread carefully and don't fuck this up."_

"Business it is then," Nik replied. "Shall we get to it?

 **#**

Did she say why she was so upset?" Bonnie asked as she secured a voluminous yellow hat atop her head with a pin.

"No," Caroline answered, still frowning at her cellphone. "She just said she'd be here in ten minutes."

They'd arrived at Hayleen's Hattery a few moments earlier when Caroline's phone started blaring and a frantic Elena insisted that they meet up.

"You think Damon found out about Liam?" Bonnie asked, frowning at her reflection as she assessed the hat.

"Doubt it. She wouldn't sound that bothered if he had," Caroline pointed out as she selected a pink hat to try on.

"True."

A tall brunette strolled up to where the two sat. "Hello, ladies."

"Hey Haley. How's Ms. Hayleen doing?" Hayleen Marshall owned Mystic Falls' only hat shop, which was currently abuzz with customers searching for the perfect item to wear to church that Sunday. The first Sunday of spring brought about Hat Day for just about every church in town and those who participated regarded the event with the reverence of the Super Bowl.

Before Haley could answer, the front door swung open and Elena rushed in. Her eyes scanned the shop until they landed on Bonnie and Caroline. She hurried over to them and snatched Caroline's mimosa from her hand and downed it in one gulp.

"Elena, what's going on?" Bonnie asked, her voice filled with concern.

"He's not leaving," she answered flatly.

"Who?"

"Your ex-husband. He has zero intention of leaving," Elena said, motioning for another drink.

Bonnie watched as Haley passed her a new bottle of champagne and a carafe of orange juice.

"I know it feels like he's been here forever," she ventured. "But he's going to be out of Ms. Pearl's in a few weeks and then things will go back to normal."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really," Bonnie assured.

"Then why is he making an offer on the old Fell building?"

"What?" Caroline gasped.

Bonnie began blinking rapidly, hoping she's misunderstood Elena's question.

"You heard me," Elena continued. "I just came from doing a walk-through with that son of a bitch."

 _"If you don't mind my asking," Elena began. "What's your interest in this building?" She'd been surprised when she'd found that Vicki had added Mikaelson's name to her appointment schedule. She'd been tempted to cancel and avoid any possible interaction, but curiosity got the best of her as to why the ex-con would suddenly develop and interest in local real estate. If what Bonnie had been saying were true, he should be climbing the walls to get out of their sleepy little town by now. And yet her showing of the Fell building had been met with pointed and thorough questions about the property's condition, the regional market for a building of its kind. It didn't take long for her to realize that despite whatever ulterior motives he may have, he was genuinely interested in buying the building._

 _"I don't mind at all, Nik replied. "After a bit of renovation, I'll be calling the second floor home, while the first floor would make a marvelous venue for my new business venture."_

 _"New business venture?" Elena asked, cautiously._

 _"Indeed," he replied as he slid his hands into his pockets. "I've been here for over two months. And from what I've seen, Mystic Falls is in desperate need of a bar."_

 _"A bar?" Elena frowned. "So what...You're going to try and run the Mystic Grill out of business?" she could already feel her irritation beginning to rise._

 _"Of course not," Nik scoffed. "The Mystic Grill is a place for families. This place will be for those who've put their families to bed for the night." If the building checked out, the former video store could be renovated with little trouble if his initial assessments were accurate._

" _Elena," he continued, smirking at the way her eyes narrowed at his familiarity. "Despite what my ex-wife may have told you, I'm not working on some nefarious plan to bring down either her or this town."_

 _"But you are planning on staying here," she said bluntly._

 _"Absolutely. My family is here and I can think of no better place for a fresh start. And-if you're willing to put your personal prejudices aside for a moment-you might see that my being here would be of great benefit to Mystic Falls as a whole."_

 _What followed was a condensed version of his plans for Mystic Falls. He questioned why Mystic Falls had failed to capitalize on its proximity to Whitmore and suggested that Mystic Falls was dying and in desperate need of new blood._

 _He wasn't wrong._

 _Considering the regional market, Mystic Fall should be her top earner as far as homes and commercial properties. It should be a haven for commuting college families._

 _She knew why; the members of the city council were set in their ways and terrified of change. Mystic Falls was good place and, for the most part, filled with good people. But in their effort to keep the town as a place you'd want your kids to grow up in, they were choking off its ability to survive long after they were gone._

" _With my resources," Nik continued. "Mystic Falls can become a place where small businesses flock. Small business means jobs. Jobs mean families come and stay in town rather than leaving once the college acceptance letters have gone out."_

 _The discussion he'd drawn her into has been frank. He pointed out that the leadership of the town had ignorantly contributed to Mystic Falls' woes and then had the audacity to point out that whatever young educated business owners that remained weren't positioning themselves to take the reins from a governing body that was old and failing._

" _If_ _people like you want this town to grow, then your involvement is going to have to go beyond yearly charity functions, especially if you want to have an actual say in what does and doesn't go on here," he said._

 _It was a good point._

 _Bonnie never mention your civic mindedness," Elena remarked, dryly._

" _I wasn't always," Nik admitted._

" _So what happened?"_

" _Prison."_

"He's not just here temporarily, guys," Elena concluded.

"Ok so if this isn't some elaborate bluff, he can't be doing this just to stay close to Henry," Caroline surmised.

"I don't think he is," Elena agreed. "He said his family was here and he did not give me the impression he was just talking about Henry. I think he's here for you too, Bon."

Bonnie sat in silence. In all honest she'd only half heard Elena's story—her brain seemed to have stopped working at the mention of the bar. Completely unbidden images of a Chicago rooftop in a sunny afternoon rose to the fore. Memories of shy admissions of dreams and warm encouragement, Promises of a future that hadn't turned out the way either had planned.

"But of all the things to put his money into, why a bar?" Caroline asked, her voice finally breaking through Bonnie's reverie as she and Elena pondered Nik's motive.

"Because he pinky swore," Bonnie said softly.

 **BKBKBKBK**

"Hi Henry's dad!" Nik heard and turned to find little Emily walking towards him in her Sunday best with a rather bored looking teenaged boy holding her hand.

Well Good Morning, Emily.. How goes it?"

"Fiiiiine," the child sang; craning her neck to look up at him

"Well that's certainly good to hear. Weekend good?"

Emily's face fell. "No, my mama took me to the dentist yesterday."

Nik frowned, "Now that's a nasty bit of business to be sure." He crouched down to her level and leaned in conspiratorially.

"Word of advice: next time you go, remember that when it comes to your cooperation, accept nothing less than two candies. Understand?"

Emily nodded vigorously, her eyes as wide as if she'd just been given the secret to the universe.

"Good, girl," he replied as the child was led away, her tiny hand waving at him.

Nik stood before the open double doors of The Greater Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church of Mystic Falls and frowned. Churchgoers milled about both among the pews inside and among the myriad of rose bushes on the lawn outside.

Men wore well-tailored suits that shunned the somberness of black in favor of blues, greens, tans and the occasional white; their expressions ranging from jovial to bored indifference as they escorted whomever was on their arm through a sea of pre-service small talk.

Women were draped in linens, silks and lace; each a portrait in pastels. The painstaking care they'd taken with their attire, extended to the elaborate array of artwork that sat upon each head. Hats of every size and color were on full display, bending and spiraling into gravity-defying shapes. They were exotic birds, flitting from one place to the next; cooing and twittering in the faint southern drawl of Virginia. Each greeted and blessed beatifically before descending into whispered gossip and side-long glances.

"It's like a southern fried version of Ascot," Nik muttered.

" _Oh hush_. Now you remembered to bring money, right?"

"Yes," Nik sighed in boredom he surveyed the crowd in search for Bonnie and Henry.

"Good, because you're gonna need it."

"And why is that, by the way?"

"Because this afternoon is the annual Mystic Falls Inter-Faith Picnic," Pearl explained. "It's a community fundraiser and everyone from every church and temple in town will be there. And the money is for the Basket Auction."

"Basket Auction?"

"Mmhmm. People put together fancy picnic baskets to donate. The baskets get auctioned off and whoever wins the basket, has lunch today with whoever made the basket.."

"Bonnie made one, didn't she?"

"She makes one every year," Pearl nodded.

He spotted her coming from the parking lot; Henry's hand in hers. She wore a bright peach sundress that swirled around her calves; a black lace shrug around her shoulders. Atop her head perched a black hat; its brim stretched beyond the span of her shoulders and curved downward to hide her right eye.

The sound of Pearl's voice—currently engaged in pointing out one person or another—faded into the background as he watched her. His mind's eye slowed down her gait and emphasized the sway of her hips as she walked, her bright red lips as she greeted someone with a wide smile, the rise and fall of her breasts when she'd stopped to chat.

Pearl pinched the back of his hand hard and yanked him from his thoughts.

"What the—" He started, irritably.

"Now over there is someone you should get to know," she said, ignoring his complaint in favor of pointing out some corn-fed bloke who knew nothing of Sunday finery if worn jeans and MFHS Athletic Department t-shirt were any indication.

"That there is Matt Donovan," Pearl explained. "You've already had to pleasure of meeting his older sister Vicki."

Nik's lip inadvertently curled at the name. "Lucky him," he said dryly.

"Don't let the gene pool fool you; they're like night and day. While Vicki is perpetual hot mess, Matt is an absolute angel," Pearl assured, already seeing Nik's attention being drawn back to Bonnie, who'd found Elena in the crowd.

"Matt's been gone for the past few months doing a fellowship with the NCAA. Shadowing athletic directors and what not. Coach Wagner at the high school is retiring this year and Matt wants to replace him as director. Something about wanting to turn the school into feeder for college athletics.

"Not a bad idea. Still haven't heard why I should care." Nik murmured as he continued to track Bonnie's movements.

Pearl smiled as raised up to her tip toes and whispered into his ear.

"Because when it comes to Bonnie's basket… _he's_ the one who's gonna be bidding against you."

Nik's eyes narrowed as he watched Bonnie walk into the circle of Matt Donovan's arms; a smile he hadn't seen in years plastered on her face. He ground his teeth only to be rewarded with Henry calling excitedly:

"Hi Uncle Matt!"

 **#**

"What are you doing here? When did you get in?" Bonnie asked as she hugged him. When she let him go, he scooped Henry up and tossed the boy over his shoulder and held him there with one arm as he laughed and squirmed in his grasp.

"Got in late last night. I promised Caroline I'd meet her down at the park with the O-line to help set up, so I can't stay." Matt explained before blue eyes softened and his thumb caressed her cheek.

"I just didn't want to go any longer than I had to before seeing your face."

"Like we haven't been Face Timing the whole time," Bonnie scoffed with a grin that did nothing to hide the blush creeping up cheeks.

"It's not the same thing, Bon. Not by a long shot."

"No, it isn't," she agreed as she slid her arms around his waist.

Nik watched the exchange from his vantage point. He hadn't known what to expect, but strangely enough he hadn't expected this. Sure he'd proven himself to be no said, but he didn't think that she'd be so adverse to the likes of him that she'd turn to Captain Fucking America.

He saw the blonde meathead set Henry back on his feet only to turn to Bonnie again and drop a kiss at the corner of her mouth before walked away with noticeable reluctance. The SUV that waited for him was filled with equally meat-headed teenaged boys who whistled and teased having witnessed the display.

Nik's hands clenched into fists as Donovan drove off. He'd never felt this before. This irrational urge to chase him down, beat him within an inch of his life for having touched her and then lock Bonnie away until she came to her senses and realized that despite everything, no one—least of all some overgrown boy scout—could love her the way she wanted except him.

Pearl patted his hand sympathetically. "She's known him her whole life. He's loved by everyone in this town—including her father—and the worse thing he's ever done was get busted for cow tipping. He's honest, loyal, true and not to mention easy on the eyes in his own right."

"He sounds like a St. Bernard," Nik murmured.

"He sounds like the one thing that you've proven yourself not to be," Pearl countered. "He's safe and nothing short of flat out lying on him is going to prove otherwise. _Now_ do you get why he can't be your focus? You may have more money than him, but he's got everything else. And right now, he's got points on the board and you've yet to score."

She looped her arm with his and guided him to the church doors.

"But...if you follow my lead, I'll have you in this ballgame before Tithes and Offerings."

 **#**

"Why isn't Bonnie's father here?" Nik asked, still stewing about Donovan as they finally entered the church.

"Rudy's never been big on church. He tends to hold the opinion that if you've been sinning for six days out of the week, why not seven?"

"A man after my own heart," Nik muttered, remembering the double-barreled shotgun the old man had aimed at him.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Bonnie announced, walking up to their pew. She'd sent Henry to find a seat with Elena before she headed to the choir room when she spotted him. He wore a perfectly tailored navy-blue suit

"Pearl insisted I attend and who am I to refuse my only ally?"

"Ally? Are we at war?"

"You tell me," Nik replied.

"It's an uneasy truce at best," she answered dryly. "But as a matter of fact, I'm glad you're here."

"Is that a fact?" Nik asked. _Why? So, you could engage in that sappy display right in front of me_?

"Yes. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking Henry for a couple of hours after service and then drop him off at the park? He was supposed to hang out with Stanley before heading to the picnic but Stanley home with a cold today. Elena and I are helping with final set up and with all the activity, it probably won't be the safest place to have him running around," she explained.

"Of course," Nik replied. "Although I won't need to drop him off as I'll be attending myself."

Bonnie's eyes widened in surprise, " _you will_?"

"Nik is going to be my date for the picnic, Bonnie," Pearl offered with a smile.

" _He is_?" Her eyes narrowed as she watched them as they amiably nodded towards one another.

This was what she hated; the feeling of having no center. The feeling of having just about everything Nik said or did no matter how insignificant throw her off balance. It was like pinwheeling your arms in a desperate attempt to grab on to anything that could possibly make this situation make sense even for a moment.

"What are you two up to?" She blurted out finally.

" _Nothing sweetheart_ ," Pearl purred.

"Oh God..." Bonnie groaned in reply. She knew bullshit when she heard it and these two were full of it. It was bad enough that Elena had officially taken the "For Sale or Lease" sign off of the Fell Building a few days ago and now here Nik was at her church on one of the biggest days of the year. And for the life of her, she still hadn't figured out why Pearl Gregory was helping him with whatever he had planned. She'd known Pearl her entire life; so why had she pledged allegiance to the man responsible for completely upending it?

"Look, Henry has a change of clothes in his backpack. Just don't let him get crazy with snack before the picnic, ok?"

Nik nodded, "I think I can do that."

"Good," Bonnie responded primly, before she turned away.

"Oh, Bonnie," Nik called after her. When she finally turned to face him, he took care to drink in one final look before they retreated to neutral corners. One final look at what one day would be his again,

"You're looking very lovely today," he said.

It was a simple compliment. One she'd heard many times before to no consequences. But she'd learned that nothing was ever simple with Nik; especially when he looked at her as though he'd committed every single detail of her to memory, She balled her hands into fists and let the sharpness of her fingernail digging into her palms distract her from the blush she felt warming her cheeks.

"Thank you," she replied, stiffly, before she hurried off to the choir room.

 **#**

What Pearl called the Praise and Worship portion of the day's service had been harmless. Nik had never been one for church, but the hymns were more lively than he was accustomed to while the constant instruction to turn to one's neighbor and repeat some overly simplistic declaration was baffling. Any real enjoyment came from hearing Bonnie's voice among the choir. He'd heard her sing before; either in the shower or crooning as he held her in his arms. But today, she was in full voice and he listened as she skillfully handled each change in key and emoted a happiness he couldn't name.

"Now if anyone would like to testify, please raise your hand and share the goodness of the Lord," the pastor intoned.

Nik sat in his pew and sighed. He'd rather be doing anything in the world other than sitting here listening to doddering old fools yammer on about being healed of their bursitis or their grandson getting into college or some revelation they received about the lord.

He was near to nodding off when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pearl raise her hand.

"Sister Pearl come on down and share a word!"

He watched as she rose from her seat and sauntered down the aisle towards the pulpit.

"Praise the Lord, Saints," she began once she stood behind the podium.

"Now I don't have anything to report on my life since the Lord is good to me all the time. But I would like to speak on a new friend that's been placed in my path. A prime example of not only the Lord's justice, but also his tender mercy."

Nik felt a chill run down his back at that. _She wouldn't dare_...

"Nik?" Pearl called out to the congregation. "Stand up for the people so they can see you."

He could see the older woman's eyes dancing even from this distance. I didn't know what she was up to, but she'd said to follow her lead and he would oblige. But this had better be good.

"Now brothers and sisters," she went on. "This here is a man who has been blessed in ways that not a one of us could ever imagine. He came into this world blessed with wealth, beauty and the skin color that allowed him to truly benefit from both." She waited...as murmurs of agreement rose among the congregation.

"But as we all know...when much is given, much is required and this young man just hasn't been up to snuff in that department. Can I get amen?"

Bonnie sat in the choir stand, blinking furiously; trying to erase the melodrama that was about to take place before her eyes. _Why, Lord? Why?_

"Rather than use his blessings for the glory of the Lord and the betterment of his fellow man," Pearl continued. "He gave himself over to Satan and start stealing what he did not need. Robbing banks, brothers and sisters!" She fanned herself as if the horror of his misdeed was simply too much to bear.

Henry stood in his seat and turned to face his father. "You used to rob banks?!" He asked, his eyes wide. "That's so cool!"

"Henry!" Elena hissed, tugging on the boy's pants leg.

"But as we do in our own ways, he eventually had to render unto Caesar what was Caesar's by being sentenced to a 25-year bit that he so richly deserved," Pearl thundered as she shook her finger at all assembled.

"But while my God is one of vengeance and justice…He's also the God of forgiveness and second chances," she said, her voice suddenly beatific.

"And He who sits on high and looks down low, saw this wretched soul and took pity on him by giving him an opportunity—a fork in the road, if you will."

Nik continued to stand as Pearl held the congregation in rapt attention with her tale. She'd said that she would have him in the game before Tithes and Offerings and she was well on her way to doing just that; all he needed to do was pick up what she was putting down. He glanced in Bonnie's direction to find her sitting. She'd removed her hat before service began and revealed her hair pulled back into a neat chignon. A look of mortification contrasted the smile she'd forced to remain on her face.

He felt a tad bit sorry for her, given what a private person she'd always been. He added whatever embarrassment she may be feeling right now to the list of offenses that he would make up to her tenfold. There would be more before there estrangement was over, and he would add them to the list as well.

 _I'm sorry love, but all's fair in love in war._

"The FBI came to him with a problem," he heard Pearl say. "Men much more dangerous than him were robbing banks the same way he did. But while Brother Nik had never hurt a living soul, these demons were leaving dead bodies in their wake!" She clutched her signature pearls in horror as the congregation gasped in response.

"Now he could have told those men of the law to go take a flying leap; he could have wallowed in bitterness at the mess he'd made of his life; he could have even fallen back on honor amongst thieves," she pointed out. "But instead he helped them and they were able to catch those demons and bring them to justice!" Her fist punched the air in triumph.

"And because he chose to do the right thing, Brother Nik's sentence was commuted to time served," she concluded as the congregation exploded into applause as they jumped to their feet. Nik felt pats a support and encouragement land on his shoulders as the church goers around him shook his hands good-naturedly. In all of five minutes he'd gone from tolerated pariah to warmly welcomed folk hero.

 _That woman is a bloody genius._

"Now if that ain't a testimony, I don't know what is!" Pearl shouted over the din. "So I ask you brothers and sisters to extend a hand of welcome to a man who's learned his lessons the hard way. Now is the time when communal support is needed to keep us all on the straight and narrow; can I get an amen?"

The congregation responded in kind and continued to applaud as Pearl relinquished the mic to the pastor.

"Brother Nik, would you care to say a few words?" He asked, when the church finally quieted.

He glanced over at Henry who still sat next to Elena. The boy's face was bright with excitement as he squirmed to get a better look without standing in his seat. Henry nodded his head encouragingly.

Rather than make his way to the pulpit, Nik remained standing as Pearl finally rejoined him.

"Ms. Pearl summed everything up quite well," he began. "I would only add that I have indeed spent the past several years learning valuable lessons. I've learned the importance of a home and family; and that when one has been blessed with both, he should hold on to them with both hands and never let go. I've learned that if given the opportunity, I wouldn't reach backwards to the life I once had; that life was filled with lies and half-truths. Instead, I intend to look forward and build anew. I hope to become a valued member of this wonderful community and create a life for myself and my loved ones that is worthy of the grace I've been given."

Nik felt Bonnie's hard stare and found her face unreadable.

"So any rumors about my stay in Mystic Falls being temporary have been greatly exaggerated," he continued as he held her gaze.

"I'm here to stay."

A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience! I know I suck donkey balls of taking this long to update, but this one went through several rewrites and then I stopped for a bit both to do Night of the Hunter and to flesh out another Klonnie fic that's in the works. The next one shouldn't take nearly as long, especially since winter break is around the corner at work

There's a lot going on with this one, so please let me know what you think and thanks to everyone who bugged me to update, it really kept me motivated.

Next Up: More on Bonnie and Matt's budding relationship, the picnic from hell and what happened in New York?


	7. Team: Hot Mess

**Team: Hot Mess**

 _A little over two months ago..._

 _"Penny for your thoughts?" Matt asked, after Bonnie had fallen silent._

 _Since he'd been gone, they'd FaceTimed every few days. The last time they'd spoken, Bonnie had been in high spirits after the shop's successful New Year's Sale. But now, he could actually feel her melancholy emanating from the screen of his tablet. Normally bright eyes were dull and she seemed millions of miles farther away than the distance between Virginia and Alabama._

 _Bonnie shook herself from her reverie. "I'm sorry, Matt. There's just been a lot that's happened over the past couple of days and..."_

 _All that followed was a long, frustrated sigh._

 _Matt's brows furrowed in concern, "What's going on Bon? It can't be that bad, can it?"_

 _"Depends on your definition of bad," she answered dryly._

 _"Try me."_

 _"My bank robbing ex-husband was released from prison and came to see me yesterday."_

 _Matt's eyes blinking owlishly from her tablet screen as she waited for the same tongue lashing she'd already gotten from Elena and Caroline the night before._

 _"Um...wow...that's...WOW," was his only reply._

 _"That's all you have to say?" Bonnie asked suspiciously. "No 'Bonnie why didn't you say something?' No, 'I can't believe you'd keep something like that from me?''_

 _"Do I look like Caroline and Elena to you?" Matt asked, wryly. "I mean yeah I have a ton of questions, but how about I start with the most important one and we go from there, ok?"_

 _Bonnie nodded, already bracing herself for yet another round of explanations. "Ok, what's your most important question?"_

 _"How are you?"_

 _Matt watched as her eyes welled up and a lone tear coursed down her cheek._

" _If I leave now I can be there by morning," he said, already jostling his tablet as he rose from the desk in his hotel room. Even before they'd decided to give it a shot, the thought of Bonnie in distress would twist his inside and compel him to fix whatever had broken. That feeling had only intensified over the last seven years._

" _Matt, no…no!" She insisted from his screen. "I'm ok, relatively speaking. I'm just emotionally exhausted and it's making me a little weepy." She brushed the tear from her cheek as her eyes pleaded with him._

" _You don't have to come back; I want you stay and finish," her voice brooked no argument._

" _This sounds like some really heavy shit, Bon," Matt argued. "You shouldn't be alone for that."_

" _I'm not," Bonnie promised. "Caroline and Elena are here and beside…knowing Nik…he's probably only going to be here a few weeks anyway."_

 _She smiled at the frown twisting Matt's face. She supposed he thought it looked severe which she actually found it adorable._

" _Stay, Matt," she pressed. "Stay and absorb everything you can, get those recommendation letters and then come home and kill that Director interview. By the time you do all that, Niklaus Mikaelson will be a distant memory."_

" _Niklaus Mikaelson?" Matt frowned in distaste. "What the fuck kind of name is that?"_

" _It's the kind of name that belongs to a rich white guy that descended from British nobility and decides that instead of using all the privilege he was born with for good, he'd rather be a high-end bank robber."_

" _So he's an asshole," Matt concluded._

" _Oh yeah…a big one," Bonnie nodded. "But he's an asshole I can handle."_

" _Fine," Matt grumbled. "But if he's still there by the time I get back…you want me to kick his ass for you?"_

" _Matt!" Bonnie gasped. "We are all adults. We should be able to deal with any adversity in a clear-headed and reasonable manner."_

 _She watched as his blonde head bobbed up and down in sober agreement._

 _A moment later, "You want me to hold him down while you kick his ass?"_

" _Yeah I can go along with that," Bonnie agreed with a grin._

 **#**

The Annual Mystic Falls Inter-Faith Picnic was the first community event that kicked off the social season according to Pearl. While some might argue the merits of the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, the Harvest Festival or even Founder's Week, nearly everyone in town made an appearance for the picnic.

Upon arriving at the park with Pearl and Henry, Nik saw for himself that the elder woman hadn't exaggerated. The grounds were alive with people milling about; greeting each other as if they hadn't just seen one another at whatever religious service they'd attended a few hours ago. There was a section set up for carnival rides as well as an area where a performance stage had been erected.

A portion of the park had been cordoned off, presumably for the picnic itself as it was filled with recently decorated picnic table of varying sizes. A podium was set up for the auctioneer while several tables behind it were currently been loaded with an array of picnic baskets.

It was there that Nik directed his attention for no other reason than the pretty young woman currently holding a clipboard as she accounted for each basket.

She was still wearing the yellow sundress from church, but the lace shrug was now gone; the black stilettoes replaced by a pair of sandals. Her hair was swept back into a messy ponytail and the forced smile she'd plastered on her face throughout the church service was now relaxed and blinding.

It died a quick death when she saw him approach.

A voice came through the strung up speakers blathered on with details about the upcoming auction.

By the time they'd reached Bonnie, the St. Bernard appeared seemingly out of nowhere and reached her first. He now had an arm lazily draped around her shoulders as she blushed at him. Nik clenched his jaw briefly and forced a smile as Henry greeted his mother with a hug full of excitement.

"Thanks for bringing him," Bonnie offered stiffly.

"It was no trouble," Nik answered easily. "Like I said, Pearl's talked this picnic up so much, I've been looking forward to it." He turned to his gaze to the blonde towering above her.

"I'm afraid we haven't met," he said coolly.

"Matt Donovan…this is Nik Mikaelson, my _ex-husband,_ " Bonnie said, steeling her features against the growing awkwardness of the moment.

"Hey, how ya doing?" Matt asked, his arm coming from around Bonnie's shoulders to extend his hand.

It was a good handshake, Nik surmised. A cool palm and a firm grip. There'd been no tension; no attempt to squeeze too tightly out of some machismo-fueled need to exert dominance. Matt looked at him easily; his countenance a picture of good-naturedness.

He was completely unbothered.

 _Either he's extremely naïve_ , Nik mused. _Or Bonnie's given him reason to be unbothered_.

The thought alone made his eye twitch as he watched his rival reach across to plant a kiss on Pearl's cheek. The older woman hugged Matt affectionately and gently chided him for being away for so long.

"So…" Matt began. "Bonnie tells me you're opening a bar?"

"Indeed," Nik replied. "Adding a little variety to the community landscape."

"Nothing wrong with that," Matt shrugged. "This town could use some new blood."

"I couldn't agree more," Nik returned.

Bonnie ground her teeth in annoyance. Nik's eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviators, but she still felt his gaze on her with each word he spoke; trying to sear its way past any bit of calm she'd spent the last couple of hours cultivating just so it could wreak havoc on whatever lay beneath.

He'd traded in his Sunday best for a robin's egg blue Henley and a pair of jeans that fit him entirely too well. His sleeves were pushed up to reveal his tattooed forearms; the blue of his shirt bringing out the vibrant colors that adorned his skin. The early afternoon breeze ruffled his blonde curls and she'd give up her right arm just to slap that damn smirk off of his face, right about now.

Instead she heard her ex politely excuse himself in favor of searching for a good spot among the bidders with Pearl. Henry asked to go with them and Bonnie could only nod in response as she watched him run after his father.

"Now listen," Pearl advised, as they walked. "You can't let this auction dissolve into some kind of pissing contest that ends up shaming Matt. It'll wipe out all of my hard work from this morning."

"Don't worry, love," Nik answered, sounding bored. "I already have it worked out."

"Well good because bidding can get rough depending on the basket. This place is serious about good food."

"And everybody's gonna want mama's basket," Henry chimed in as he ran back to them.

"Really? And why is that?" Nik asked, amused.

"She made Gram Gram's peach cobbler," the boy whispered excitedly.

" _She did?_ " Pearl asked with interest as Henry nodded vigorously.

"Sheila's cobbler is the stuff of legend around here," she explained to Nik. "My dear Isaac used to get Sheila to make one to bring home whenever he screwed up. Stuff's better than flowers after a fight so bidding might get out of hand."

"You do realize that I could buy this town if I wanted, right?" Nik asked. "The basket, the cobbler and the woman who made them are mine. End of story."

 **#**

"How you holding up?" Caroline asked, sliding an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. As soon as Elena and Bonnie arrived at the park they immediately filled her in on the details of Nik and Pearl's performance at church.

"Fair to middlin," Bonnie answered as she passed a roll of tickets to a volunteer. A crowd had begun to gather before the main stage in for the auction but Bonnie's eyes easily found Henry hanging with his father and Pearl closer to the front. Volunteers were still setting up picnic baskets while latecomers hurried to signed up to participate.

"Ok then…how's Matt?" Caroline asked before leading Bonnie towards the main stage to join Elena and Tyler Lockwood.

"He's says he's fine but we really haven't gotten a chance to talk yet. I was hoping maybe today during lunch but…" Her eyes drifted back to Nik who stood engrossed in conversation with Carol Lockwood.

"But you're probably going to be having lunch with your baby daddy," Tyler finished, passing her a bottle of sunscreen. Bonnie accepted it quizzically before she removed the cap and was assailed by the smell of whiskey. She smiled gratefully before hiding behind Caroline in order to drink deeply.

"Whoever decided no booze for this thing is an idiot," Tyler declared.

"Your _father_ decided that, Tyler," Elena pointed out.

"I rest my case, _Elena_ " he sneered in return.

Elena rolled her eyes before asking, "Why's Bonnie having lunch with Nik?"

"Because he's just enough of an asshole to start a bidding war that he'd win," Caroline explained. "Matt can't stake a claim on anything with a teacher's salary; he has to fight for the moral victory."

"Yeah, what she said," Tyler nodded in agreement.

"But I don't want anyone fighting one way or another," Bonnie protested, taking another swig from the lotion bottle before passing it to Elena.

"Doesn't matter what you want," Caroline shrugged. "If the convict is trying to publicly set himself up as a rival, then Matt is obligated to respond or lose all sense of dignity."

"Says, who?!" Bonnie asked incredulously.

" _It's in the Bible_ ," the blonde answered and waved a hand dismissively at Elena's incredulous look.

"Look, Bonnie," Tyler said, turning her toward him. "Something like this was bound to happen ok? You're one of the hottest chicks in this town-hell, I'd have tried to pin you down when you moved back; but I didn't because we're friends…and because through no fault of your own I would have wound up fucking around on you anyway. Then I'd have to answer to these two bitches and who wants to deal with that?" he explained, ignoring Elena's gasp of outrage while dodging that smack upside the head Caroline aimed at him.

"Bottom line," Tyler continued. "He's doing this because he thinks he can get you back and he's willing to go through Matt to do it."

"But I don't want him back," Bonnie insisted.

"Doesn't matter," Tyler replied. "He thinks he can change your mind. All guys think we can change your mind."

"Which is why it's up to us to prove you wrong," Bonnie huffed in reply.

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't," Tyler shrugged. "Either way, Matt needs to handle his business. And this stupid auction is part of his business, ok?"

"He's right," Caroline offered. "Let him fight, let him lose and then help him lick his wounds…preferably in front of the winner."

"It's what I'd do," Elena agreed. "If you've made your decision, then let them smack each other around until one of them figures it out. It doesn't change anything for you and it provides entertainment for us."

"So, you're _enjoying_ this car crash my life has turned into?" Bonnie gasped.

" _Kinda_ ," Elena admitted, "I mean, Nik isn't going anywhere, Henry is happy and amazing and everybody knows everything. We are no longer at Def Con 1, Bon. We'll be there when you need us, but in the mean time we get to be the ones getting the popcorn ready."

"I don't believe what I'm hearing," Bonnie muttered, her eyes rolling upward.

"It's the truth, Bonnie," Caroline chimed in. "We've all been on Team: Hot Mess at one time or another; all of us except you, that is. You've always been Team: Popcorn. Now, for the first time ever, we all get to be Team: Popcorn while get to be an army of one on Team: Hot Mess."

Bonnie looked around as each of them nodded in agreement. She opened her mouth to speak only to slam it shut when nothing came out. She tried again with the same result.

Finally, Bonnie snatched the lotion bottle out of Caroline's hands.

"Well fuck you, Team: Popcorn," she grumbled before drinking deeply.

 **#**

The auction had been going on for nearly 20 minutes. Most of the baskets up for bid were quickly won and sold. Barty Johnson, the manager of the Piggly Wiggly, stood on the main stage as the auctioneer; basket after basket leaving his hands as the event went on.

"Now that's Tyler over there with them," Pearl said nodding in Bonnie's direction as another basket was placed up for bid.

Nik followed her gaze and spotted the dark-haired young man who kept passing a bottle of sun tan lotion back and forth between Bonnie and the others.

"Tyler the mayor's son and works for the fire department," Nik nodded, remembering the name. "And I believe his grandmother is a bit of a nosy old bird."

"Yes, Gertie Lockwood, the oldest person in Mystic Falls and the nicest racist you'll ever meet."

"I beg your pardon?" Nik asked.

Pearl chuckled at his raised eyebrow, "Gertie's the type that's gentle and kind to every person she meets while at the same time being a card carrying member of the Daughters of the Confederacy _and_ while making sure her husband's grand wizard robes fit him just right before he died. All of which makes Tyler proof that God don't like ugly in any form."

"How so?"

"Like I said, Gertie's the oldest person in town. She's so old and senile, in fact; that she still hasn't figured out that the favorite grandson she's chosen to leave her entire fortune to is Latino," Pearl explained simply.

"Why hasn't anyone told her?" Nik chuckled.

"Because the shock would kill her and blow up the pool," Pearl replied as if the answer was somehow obvious.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Nik frowned.

"Gertie just turned 103 a few months back," Pearl whispered, conspiratorially. "A lot of us have a betting pool on when she finally kicks off. I've got a $300 investment in her 'ol fay ass making it another three years and six months."

" _Fucking hell_ ," Nik cackled, before feeling a light tug on his jeans.

"Mama's basket is next, Nik," Henry reported, holding numbered paddle tightly in his hand.

Nik smiled down at the boy before scooping him up and settling him on his shoulders.

"Well then, he said amidst the boy's giggles. "Let's be about it then, shall we?"

 **#**

"Now the next basket up for bid," Barty Johnson began, holding up Bonnie's basket for the audience to see. "Was donated by Ms. Bonnie Bennett, owner and operator of _Ms. Sheila's Place_ over on Lockwood Ave."

He set the basket down on the display table and gently pulled away a small card detailing the basket's contents. With springtime being the theme of her decorations, the large birchwood basket revealed a flash of yellow and white checkered tablecloth and seemed full to bursting with picnic fare. Delicately placed flowering branches of cherry blossom, forsythia, and dogwood seemed to burst through the weaving of the large basket in colors of pink, yellow and white.

"Now this basket will serve two to four people and Ms. Bonnie here, is clearly trying to make sure that the lucky winners are truly fed, given this spread she's putting out for y'all," Barty began, adjusting his reading glasses. "We've got twice-fried chicken, Hoppin John, collard greens, spicy cucumber salad, fresh corn salad, honey butter rolls, ginger mint sweet tea to wash it all down _and_... _Ms. Sheila's peach cobbler_." The murmurs of approval that flowed through the crowd grew at the last item.

" _So it's like that huh, Ms. Bonnie?_ You did this and I can't even bid; I see how you are," Barty teased before he continued.

"Now as I said earlier, proceeds from this year's picnic go towards renovating the community center and since Ms. Bonnie decided to show up and show out a little bit...let's start the bidding at $40 dollars."

Barty watched as numbered paddles cut through the air and increased the bidding price in $5 increments. Having been the auctioneer for five years straight, he could already spot the ones that would be in this for the long haul.

Easily the bidding progressed and now stood at $250 with the highest bid belonging to Matt Donovan. As bidders began to trickle away, Barty felt confident that Matt would be the one to come away with the prize once the bidding hit $300.

"Alright y'all it's time to kick this up a notch because Ms. Bonnie aint got all day and neither do we," he announced before increasing the bidding by $20 increments. More bidders began to fall out by the time the price hit $400.

"Ok we're at $400...can I get $420...$420 and this beautiful basket is yours...ok we have $400 going once...$400 going twice..."

"Five hundred dollars!" A child's voice shouted out.

Barty scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on little Henry Mikaelson, who sat perched on his father's shoulders waving a numbered paddle frantically in the air. The newest member of the Mystic Falls community stood nonchalantly with his arms wrapped around the boy's legs to secure him.

Nik's dark sunglasses hid his eyes from view, but a slow nod indicated to Barty that he would be responsible for any bids made by his son.

"Well, well, well...Ladies and gentlemen, we now have a bid of $500 from Mr. Henry Mikaelson," he announced and members of the laughed affectionately at the sudden turn of events.

 **#**

"He's using my own baby against me!" Bonnie complained to no one in particular as she watched her son start a bidding war with her...

 _Friend?_

 _Boyfriend?_

 _Was it weird that neither description seemed to entirely fit at this point?_

Matt and Henry's bids bandied back and forth, the latter squirming with excitement atop his father's shoulders.

"It's a smart move," Caroline admitted. "Matt isn't really going to try and beat a child and Nik doesn't run the risk of looking bad by beating him." Elena and Tyler nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Henry," Barty called, as if on cue. "Bidding is at $580. Do I have $600?

"$600!" The child answered.

"That's too rich for my blood, little man," Matt finally conceded with a chuckle.

"$600 going once...$600 going twice...Sold to Mr. Henry Mikaelson for $600 dollars!"

The crowd erupted into applause as Elena gave Bonnie a sympathetic look before she nudged her towards the main stage. She met Nik and Henry the former finalized the transaction for the basket. Barty passed the basked to Bonnie only to have Nik pluck it from her hands when Matt walked up.

"Sorry I beat you, Uncle Matt," Henry said sheepishly.

"No you aren't," Matt laughed. "But who am I to come between a man and his favorite cobbler?"

"What I would like to know is _why_?" Bonnie asked. "There's an entire pan of cobbler at home, Henry."

"It's not the same thing," Henry said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"Indeed, it isn't," Nik agreed. "Where's the victory in cobbler that's been sitting at home waiting all this time?"

"Good point," Matt answered, reaching up to shake Henry's hand. "And a well-deserved win."

Nik tensed when Matt then draped an arm across Bonnie's shoulders and pressed a kiss atop her head.

"Well, I'll leave you three to your lunch," he announced, before giving Bonnie a gentle squeeze.

"I'll meet you later at the dunking booth?" Bonnie asked.

"Ok, but you're not getting me this time, Bennett," Matt challenged, good-naturedly.

"I get you every time, Donovan," Bonnie smirked. "Today won't be any different."

"Alright...we'll see," Matt chuckled before he nodded towards Nik and disappeared into the crowd.

Bonnie plastered a smile onto her face as she watched Matt leave before turning to the two responsible for ruining what should have been a perfectly good lunch.

"So," she said finally, avoiding Nik's gaze. "Let's go find our table."

She practically stalked off towards the designated picnic area with the two culprits in tow.

When she found their table, she took the basket from Nik and began unpacking; laying down the tablecloth in a billow of yellow and white.

Nik watched as she methodically laid out their lunch fare with easy grace. Despite her irritation, her attention to detail even had her rearranging the flowering branches from the basket into a lovely centerpiece for their table.

Nik stood next to Bonnie and surveyed the display. "I'm impressed."

"You should be," Bonnie answered primly before herding Henry into a seat at the table. When the child reached for the small basket filled with biscuits, she stopped him.

"Hang on," she said, turning towards Nik. "Before we even say grace we need to get something straight."

"I want you to tell your son that robbing banks is not 'cool'", Bonnie announced, remembering Henry's outburst during Pearl's "testimony."

"I'm not going to _lie_ to the boy, Bonnie," Nik scoffed. "Robbing banks was one of the most exhilarating pleasures I've ever felt.

" _I knew it_ ," Henry sighed.

"But," Nik said, stopping him. "Was it worth so many years away for your mother…away from _you_? Not at all. Consider that when figuring out how cool it actually is."

Henry nodded soberly, absorbing his father's words. "It still _sounds_ cool though," he said finally, pulling smiles from both parents.

After Bonnie said grace, Henry chattered on as they passed bowls and plates of food between each other. He talked about all of rides he wanted to go on after his food settled. He talked about the potato sack race he was entering with several of his friends. But it was his talk of having gone with Bonnie for her "fittin," that drew Nik's undivided attention.

"A fitting? For what, if you don't mind my asking?" Nik asked, digging into a helping of collards.

"For, the Founder's Dance," Henry offered before his mother could reply.

"Founder's Ball," Bonnie corrected.

"I didn't know you were attending," Nik replied.

"I go every year, if you must know."

"And I assume _Uncle Matt_ will be escorting you this year?" Nik ask, the very thought setting his teeth on edge.

"Actually, no." Bonnie answered. "Unfortunately, for him somebody beat him to the punch," she explained, nodding in Henry's direction.

"It's my first formal and I'm going to be her escort, Nik," Henry announced proudly.

"And a fine escort you'll be," his father agreed. "Meanwhile I have recently been asked to not only sponsor the event, but to sit on the planning committee as well."

"You what?" Bonnie asked with a start.

Nik grinned at the startled look on her face. "You heard me."

"Oh my God, Caroline is going to have a stroke," Bonnie groaned before biting into a chicken leg sullenly.

"Yes, she very well might," Nik agreed, taking a huge bite out of a biscuit.

The fact that he sat there just so damned pleased with himself made Bonnie's eyes roll. "Since when are you into community engagement?"

"Since the mayor's wife decided it was in the town's best interest to avail itself of my philanthropic nature."

"What's philan…philan…?" Henry asked before taking a gulp of his tea.

"Philanthropic," Bonnie answered, sounding the word out for him slowly. They'd had a routine for the past few years where if the boy heard a new word, he learned it on the spot.

"It's when you give out of the kindness of your heart," Nik offered.

"It's a big one too; four syllables so take it slow," Bonnie advised as the boy slowly began to sound the word out for himself over and over again.

With a new word now distracting Henry, Bonnie's snapped around in Nik's direction.

"Don't think for one second that stunt you and Pearl pulled at the church was cute," she hissed under her breath, but loud enough for Nik to hear.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nik replied innocently.

"Oh cut the shit," Bonnie insisted. "You want put down roots here? _Fine_. You want to open a bar here? _Fine_. You want to be all civic-fucking-minded? _Fine. Fine. Fine!_ But you better make damn sure you're clear on those being your _only_ interests in being here alright?"

Nik didn't even bother try wiping this smug smile off his face; his dimples on full display as he leaned into her conspiratorially."

"Oh come now, Bonnie," he gently chided, his lips entirely too close to her ear. "You and I both know that would be a lie."

Bonnie jerk her body away from the sensation his warm breath caressing her shoulder.

"What I know," Bonnie gritted out. "Is that if seven years in federal prison didn't teach you that you can't always get what you want, _then I will._ So whatever you're doing or think you're gonna do…don't." Her eyes flashed as she straightened her shoulders and tilted her chin in the air as though she'd just made some sort of final proclamation on the subject.

She really was adorable, he mused before leaning far enough into her that his lips barely brushed the shell of her ear.

"Unfortunately for you, love; I have bit of a history of rising to a challenge."

 **KBKBKBKB**

Pearl's fingers flew across her calculator with ease as she added up the month's expenses. She sat at her desk after having spent the better part of the morning meeting with the staff in preparation for the holiday rush and the upcoming tourist season. Both felt like misnomers as the visitors were the same as they always were: relatives who'd moved away returning to visit family too stubborn to do the same.

Maybe next year would be different given the amount of time and effort Nik was putting into his little projects. The renovation of the Fell Building was in full swing and when her favorite border wasn't spending time with his son, he was out meeting with contractors and lawyers.

He'd also taken it upon himself to help out the demolition crew that tore through his building by taking out his frustrations on rotted beams and walls marked for removal every evening.

It had been several weeks since the picnic and there'd been a few times since then where she'd been worried that Nik would drop all sense of decorum and plant a fist in the middle of Matt Donovan's face-Matt's crimes consisting of all the times he'd been spotted holding Bonnie's hand or wrapping his arms around her to ward off a chill…

…or—and this was Pearl's personal favorite—that time she and Nik spotted Matt and Bonnie outside of the ice cream shop.

" _Hey, Nik!" She called to him as she watched him lock up the Fell Building for the night and head towards his SUV._

" _Give me a ride back to the inn?" She asked. Her weekly bid whist game at the Mystic Grill ran late and although Agnes had offered to drive a few of them over, none of them were interested in waiting for her to sober up in order to get home. The numbers for children and grandchildren were lighting up cells with requests to be picked up._

 _But Pearl's children and grandchildren moved away a long time ago, so she was prepared to call Daniel her gardener to pick her up when she saw Nik a few doors down._

 _They were riding along just as fine as you please until Nik came to a stop at a red light on Haskell. He'd been explaining that the crew he hired had just started gutting his new building when he happened to glance to his left and saw Bonnie and Matt being shown to a table outside of Beulah's Creamery._

 _Matt pulled a chair out for Bonnie, but before she took her seat, she raised herself to her tiptoes kissed his cheek. Before she could pull away, one of Matt's arms slid around her waist and pulled her closer._

 _Bonnie smiled up at him as his lips found hers and kissed her deeply; his hand rising to cup her jaw like she was something he'd only just tasted and found irresistible._

 _Pearl saw Nik's hands tighten on the steering wheel until his knuckles went white as he watched Matt kiss Bonnie until she giggled. They parted slowly and sat; already continuing whatever conversation they'd been having._

 _An impatient car horn pulled Nik from the haze he'd fallen into with a start. His foot slammed on the gas and he floored it, pealing out with a screech of tires._

 _Pearl eyed him as the streetlights shining through the windows illuminated his face; his jaw clenching and unclenching erratically as he sped through downtown Mystic Falls like his ass was on fire._

" _Now, Nik…calm down…" she urged._

" _I am calm," Nik replied, but his tightened lips, clipped words and lead foot on the gas pedal claimed the opposite._

He managed to get them home in one piece, but later that night, she saw him head out to her toolshed before taking off for the rest of the night.

When he finally turned up the next day covered in plaster dust and splinters, she figured out what he'd been up to:

 _Better taking a sledgehammer to wood and concrete than to the Matt's head._

She couldn't blame him. She knew all too well what it was like to have the person you know down to your bones you're meant to be with, happy and smiling with someone else.

Nik's only had to deal with Matt's ass for a few weeks. He didn't know what it was like to carry a torch for over 40 years.

The Hopkins and Bennett families were close knit—as were most black families in Mystic Falls back then. Rudy was a few years older than her and good friends with all four of her brothers, but at five years of age she knew with all the shy urgency of a childhood crush that he was meant to be her husband.

But then grade school came and that certainty still hadn't gone away. Middle school came and went and it was still there. By high school not only was it still there but it was raging with hormones while she waited for him to see what she saw.

But she was the sister of his best friends, which made her his sister in his eyes.

So she started dating; part of her hoping that in seeing her do so might rattle his brain into not seeing her as his kid sister. But that hope died the day he came home from college with a pregnant wife in tow.

By the time Abby realized that family life wasn't for her, Pearl was married to Isaac Gregory and on the verge of starting a family of her own. Thirty years and two children and grandchildren later, the cancer got to Isaac and he died while Rudy focused on being there for his daughter and grandson.

Despite all of that, the torch she held for that stubborn idiot of a man still burned in the most secret corner of her heart. The corner never visited by neither husband nor children; the corner that still only belonged to her.

As good a life as she'd led, she still wouldn't wish one like it on Bonnie…or Matt for that matter. When she's tipsy enough to think on it, she knows that her dear Isaac knew there was a part of her that he couldn't reach. He never questioned her; never treated her differently because of it. But she can't help but wonder how knowing such a thing made him feel.

She wondered how knowing such a thing made Matt feel.

Whatever the case, the ball was definitely rolling as far as Nik and Bonnie which now gave her time to focus on her own plans. Nik owed her favor for her help and she had every intention of calling it in at some point, but getting to the moment where it would be necessary was slow going. Slower still given her most recent encounter.

" _Rudy Bennett, bring your behind from under there before I drag you out!"_

 _Rudy slid from beneath his truck to find an irate Pearl Gregory glaring down at him; her arms folded and her foot tapping furiously._

" _Well hello, Pearl," Rudy said dryly. "What brings you over on such a fine day?"_

" _Word on the street is that you pulled a shotgun on Nik, Rudy," Pearl spat, her hands landing on her hips._

 _Rudy slowly got to his feet and reached for a nearby rag to wipe his hands. "I didn't shoot him so I don't see what all this fuss is about," he shrugged._

" _That's not the point! You can't just go around trying to kill people."_

" _Bullshit," Rudy scoffed. "If there's one person in this town just begging to get some buckshot in his ass it's Nik Mikaelson."_

" _How would you know?" Pearl demanded. "It's not like you're tried to even get to know the boy."_

" _And why the hell would I do that, Pearl? Rudy asked, coming to stand in front of her._

" _Look, he may have charmed you into thinking that his shit don't stink but he hurt my little girl and he'd do well to stay the hell out of my way."_

" _Bonnie is not a little girl," Pearl countered. "She's a grown ass woman and whatever's going on between her and Nik is between her and Nik. Nobody needs you flying off the handle and tossing a wrench into a needed reconciliation."_

 _Rudy blinked hard, "A needed recon—woman have you lost your mind? You honestly think my daughter needs to take that crooked ass white boy back? Over my dead body!"_

" _Don't tempt me, Rudy," Pearl snapped. "Just because you're too thickheaded to see that these two still care for each other doesn't mean you get the final say on whether or not they decide to do something about it."_

" _Oh please don't start on some love conquers all horsehit, Pearl," Rudy sneered. "You and I both should be old enough to know by now that that's not how this works."_

" _Well maybe it would work for you if it weren't for the fact that you couldn't spot a good thing even if it landed on your fool head," Pearl hissed as she poked Rudy's forehead with a finger._

" _Now you lay off of Nik," she continued. "Because you aint the only one in this town with a shotgun."_

The chime of the front door opening pulled Pearl from her thoughts and her eyes widened appreciatively at the stranger who entered.

 _Now that man is finer than the law allows_ , she thought to herself as she stood.

"Welcome to the Gregory Inn…how may I help you?"

Straight, white teeth gleamed at her from a generous smile filled with charm while almond-shaped brown eyes crackled with mischief.

"Afternoon, ma'am," the stranger began, his voice as smooth as velvet. "I was hoping to get a room for a few nights?"

"Define 'a few'," Pearl asked.

"I can't really say at the moment," he answered. "I'm in town visiting a friend who's staying here."

"Oh really? And who might that be?" She asked, even more interested now than she had been before.

"Nik Mikaelson."

"Nik!" she gasped pleasantly. "Now how do you know him?"

"We…uh…were roommates for several years," came the stranger's coy reply.

Pearl lifted an eyebrow and folded her arms over her bosom. " _Roommates_?"

The pretty sonofabitch had the nerve to blush before his gorgeous smile widened into a heart-stopping grin."

"Cellmates," he clarified. "My parole came through last month and Nik said that when I got out I should look him up."

"Well, how very Shawshank of you," Pearl replied dryly, taking a moment to wonder what the hell kind of prison was housing men that looked like Nik and this guy.

"I'll tell you what," she went on. "I'll put you down for two nights. By then you and Nik should have figured out what you're doing here and for how long."

"Sounds good, Mrs…?" he asked while reaching for his wallet and handing over his I.D and debit card.

"Gregory. Pearl Gregory," she answered already starting his paperwork.

" _Oh, you're Pearl_! I've should have known; Nik's spoken a lot about you."

"Well I'm going to need to have a talk with that boy because he hasn't mentioned a word about you."

After she ran his card and selected a room for him, she made her way to the staircase.

"Oh, Nik honey!" She called from the foot of the stairs before glancing down at the I.D card still in her hand.

"There's a Marcel Gerard here to see you!"

A/N: I'm gonna keep this quick because I'm in the process of proof-reading the next update and I'm planning to post it later tonight (Fair warning...it's got the smuts), but I wanted to thank everyone so much for sticking with this fic and for all the questions/comments. I'll answer a lot of those when the next update drops tonight so keep an eye out!


	8. The Little Witch

**The Little Witch**

 _Nine years ago…_

 _Bonnie awakened to the darkness of Nik's bedroom. She'd been dreaming of him; disjointed visions of being locked in his embrace still clung to her mind's eye._

 _She turned over to seek out his body only to find the space he normally occupied empty; the memory of his warmth still on his pillows._

 _She could count on one hand how many times she'd awakened in the middle of the night and found herself alone. Each time it was for the same reason:_

 _Nik was leaving town on business again._

 _In the days leading up to one of his trips, a feeling of unease always seemed to hover over him. He was quieter, more pensive...easily lost in his thoughts. When she'd ask what bothered him, his answer was always the same:_

" _I don't look forward to being without you."_

 _She couldn't deny that every time he said something like that it made her feel positively golden, but the earnestness in his voice always brought her a hint of worry; as did the way he'd hold her and seemed to never want to let go._

 _If she didn't know any better, she'd say he acted like he might never see her again._

 _But he always came back; and whatever tension had built up in him seemed to evaporate whenever he walked through the front door._

 _It had been weeks since she blurted out that she loved him. Weeks of not only becoming comfortable with how easily the words fell from her lips as each day passed, but also adjusting to the way her heart wanted to leap out of her chest and run around the room every time Nik told her that he loved her too._

 _She sat up and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. A glance at the clock told her that the sun wouldn't be up for a few hours. Still wearing one of his shirts, Bonnie climbed from the bed and padded off to find him._

 **#**

 _Nik stood before the ceiling-high windows of his apartment and looked out onto the Chicago night. He'd meet the guys in New Jersey the day after tomorrow; Garden State Savings and Loan the topic of discussion._

 _He used to look forward to these meetings-the first ones after a successful job. The smug satisfaction on everyone's face as, once again, they'd gotten away with what shouldn't have been possible and were getting ready to do it again._

 _But since Bonnie—it was weird how he delineated his life now; there was life before Bonnie and life since Bonnie—he had to admit that he no longer looked forward to these meetings. The thrill was still there, of course. But since Bonnie, that thrill stood hand in hand with something he couldn't afford in his line of work:_

 _Fear._

 _Fear of something going wrong._

 _Fear of being caught._

 _Fear of her learning the truth._

 _Fear of never coming home to her._

 _Fear of losing her._

 _It gnawed and worried at him like dog with a bone._

 _How did everything get so fucked up so fast?_

 _It was in moments like these that he thought of his sister Rebekah and the last time he'd laid eyes on her._

 _He'd been sixteen when he caught her sneaking over to the east wing of the family estate; trying to climb out of a third-floor window._

 _She said she'd had enough; that if it was a choice between being with Diego and staying in the prison of their family, she'd choose him every time._

 _He told her that she was a fool. She was nineteen years old! With the Mikaelson name attached to her beauty, she'd recently landed a modeling contract that most would kill for. Some two-bit musician wasn't worth throwing her entire life and inheritance away._

 _He remembered the moment she placed her hands on his shoulders and willed him to look at her._

 _She said that one day he would meet someone who would turn his world completely upside down. Someone who'd found the secret corner of his heart and took up residence. She said that from the moment they entered his life, it would never be the same and he wouldn't want it to be. She said that when he met that someone, he'd understand her choice._

 _Then she was gone._

 _The results were predictable as far as his parents were concerned. They disowned her. Her modeling contract disappeared and conveniently damaging rumors caught on like wildfire. She was vilified and ridiculed; but by the end of it, she'd married Diego and now lived comfortably in Sao Paolo._

 _Without any prospects in front of the camera, Rebekah eventually sought work behind it. She'd studied photography at uni and used that knowledge to become an apprentice to a local artist. Now, she taught the art herself. And while she never contacted the rest of the family, she always managed to send him pictures of her life with Diego and their two daughters._

 _She was happy. Ridiculously happy._

 _And she'd been right. His little witch was wreaking havoc all over his carefully ordered life and he wouldn't have it any other way. He was already wishing he was home with her and he hadn't even left yet._

 _Three more jobs and this would all be over; but could he hold out until then?_

 **#**

 _Bonnie watched Nik from the doorway as he looked down on the city below. The light of the full moon streamed through and illuminated his face and the bareness of his chest._

 _Even in profile, she saw the worry that furrowed his brow. She wanted to smooth it away with her thumbs. She wanted to whisper in his ear and tell him that she loved him with her whole heart; that she'd help him with whatever drove him from his bed. She wanted him to know that she was there for him, in every way that he'd been there for her in the months since they'd first met. She wanted him to know that she needed him and that everything within her told her that he needed her too. She wanted to tell him that none of that even scratched the surface of the feelings that welled up inside her whenever he was near and throbbed with a dull ache when he wasn't._

 _But how do you say that? How do you tell someone—to their face—all that and so much more? How do you make him understand that while she'd never felt anything like this before, she knew down to her bones that she never wanted to feel this for or with anyone else? Yes, she was young and still naïve about so many things, but she knew that he was the one. Some people wait their whole lives to meet that person and here she'd found him and he'd lit a fire in her that day after day made her want to get just that much closer..._

 _She was ready._

 _Like really ready._

 _Like really, really, REALLY ready_ _._

 _The realization dawned and sent a jolt through her as she moved towards him._

 _Nik smiled when Bonnie's arms pulled him from his thoughts and wrapped around his waist from behind. He loved having her here. He'd moved his "office" to a smaller location near the docks weeks ago in order to give her a key to this place._

 _After a day of working and planning; to come home and find her there-passed out on his bed, wearing one of his shirts and surrounded by textbooks-filled him with a warmth and sense of belonging that he'd never felt before._

 _He'd always move her schoolwork to the side and change out of his suit before climbing into bed with her; unable to hide his smile at the way she'd sleepily reach for him whenever she sensed him near._

 _Nik rested his hands atop hers when he felt her step into his body; her breasts pressed against his back. He expected her arms to tighten and hug him as was her habit; but the feather-light kisses he felt her begin slowly pepper his back with, caught him by surprise and dismissed every expectation in an instant._

 _He turned in Bonnie's arms and smiled at the way her hands settled on his hips as she looked up at him._

 _"What are you up to, little witch?" Nik asked, a long finger trancing the curve of her cheek._

 _What was she up to? Was she supposed to flat out tell him that she was ready to "ride the lightning" as Lucy put it? Maybe a speech where she told him that he made her feel as though her heart was full to bursting with pure light? One that told him that no one in her life believed in her and what she wanted quite the way that he did? That his heart had become her most prized possession?_

 _Or...she could just take off the shirt, she thought. He'd get the picture then._

 _Instead, Bonnie's hands left his hips and slid up his body to cup his face. She raised herself up to her tiptoes while her lips sought his out and found them. Nik lowered his head to meet her; his hands already reaching out to pull her closer._

 _A soft grunt escaped him as Bonnie as she seemed to pour everything she felt for him into that kiss; his arms enveloping her in response._

 _Nik didn't know what brought this on, but whatever it was seemed to emanate from Bonnie in a way that electrified his senses. It charged what little space remained between them and nearly left him breathless._

 _Bonnie drew her lips from his; enjoying the sensation of the short, coarse scruff of his cheeks against the pads of her thumbs. Even that simple action making her smile._

 _She waited until Nik's eyes opened and focused on her. Who knew that love, lust and mild confusion came in so many shades of blue?_

" _Take me to bed," she said finally; her voice as warm and thick as the honeyed words she'd spoken._

 _Nik's eyes widened slightly at the request and the meaning behind it. Did he know that it was only a matter of time before this happened? Of course, he did. Yes, they'd been heading in this direction for some time now but, knowing how much this meant to her and the realization that she loved him enough to want this moment with him...well...it made him want to wallow in the reality of it for as long as he could. But, having never been at a loss for words before, he was grateful that none were needed to lift Bonnie into his arms and blindly carry her back into his bedroom; his lips finding hers along the way._

 _By the time he entered his bedroom, their kiss had deepened to the point where he could only stand near the doorway and drink her in as he held her._

 _Bonnie reluctantly pulled her lips away once her lungs began to beg for air. When Nik set her on her feet, he watched as she walked to the foot of his bed and pulled his shirt over her head, leaving her naked save the pair of black boy shorts still hugging her hips._

 _She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled shyly before she beckoned him over with a tilt of her head._

 _Nik came to stand behind her; almost mimicking her actions from earlier. His hands reached around her and found her breasts. The pert globes filled his hands as he kneaded them; her nipples hardening in response._

 _He dipped his down and found the sweet spot behind her ear that never failed to pull a moan from her as he pressed her body against his; his cock already beginning to lengthen and harden beneath his pajama pants._

 _The feeling of that hardness pressed against her backside sent a thrill up Bonnie's spine. She wanted him. She'd wanted him from the moment she saw him and she'd spent countless hours wondering what it would be like; not just to have his heart, but to have him:_

 _In her arms._

 _Between her thighs._

 _Deep inside her._

 _Months ago, the direction of her thoughts would have sent her scurrying away in embarrassment but tonight, she was eager to feel what his eyes always promised._

 _Nik's hands left her breasts long enough to drift to her undies and peeled them down until she was able to step out of them; his lips and tongue laying waste to her neck with open mouthed kisses. Bonnie reached back blindly to find his waistband and pushed down his pants._

 _She wanted to turn around and face him, but Nik's fingers snatched the idea from her mind when they found her already damp folds._

 _He held her tightly against him, his ministrations turning her into a writhing bundle of need. Bonnie's hands clenched and unclenched as his dampened fingers teased her; his thumb playing with her nub and winding her core more and more tightly._

 _Bonnie's legs nearly buckled when she came, but he held her fast; maneuvering her trembling body onto the bed. He settled himself between her quivering thighs and bent to kiss her; growling into her mouth as her nails scratched his scalp._

 _She sighed almost mournfully when his lips finally left hers. The loss was briefly felt as he moved down her body; his mouth picking up where fingers left off._

 _She was everything he never knew he wanted. The desire to drown in her essence was overwhelming as Nik wrapped her legs around his head and tasted her._

 _Bonnie's hips found a rhythm of their own as his tongue had its way with her. This was new and exciting and she was gonna kill Caroline, Elena and Lucy for not bothering to mention what an exquisite torture a person's mouth could truly inflict. Waves of pleasure bombarded her at every turn until she was coming again; her cries drowning out the sound of Nik hungrily sucking on her clit._

 _When he finally came up for air, he kissed his way back up her body. Even that simple action sent a charge through her and Bonnie was certain her body had turned into bundle of exposed nerves; the faintest breath setting her aflame._

 _He kissed her again, letting her taste herself on his tongue before he repositioned himself before her his near painfully hard cock at her entrance._

 _Bonnie's breath caught in her throat when he entered her; her body tensing at the intrusion as Nik bit down hard on his bottom lip as he slowly guided his length into her; relishing the way her warmth enveloped him._

 _The discomfort was mild and fading quickly, but Bonnie was unsure of what if anything she should do next._

" _It's a dance, Bonnie," he said, guessing her thoughts. "Just dance with me."_

 _Bonnie nodded as he began to move within her with a deliberateness that nearly made her eyes cross. She pulled his close and raised her hips to catch his rhythm; moaning as each thrust lifted her pleasure that much higher._

 _Nik lowered himself his chest was pressed against hers; Bonnie nails digging into his back as broken words of love spilled from her lips unbidden. Her walls fondled him; quivering in anticipation for his next stroke. He'd been right all along; she was a witch. There could be no other explanation for the feeling that welled up inside him. The experience of being connected—mind, body and heart—to another person and knowing they felt the same shook him to his core._

 _He felt her body beginning to tighten around him and increased his pace; every moan and gasp he pulled from her spurring him on as she clung to him._

" _I love you," he breathed near her ear. "I love you so much."_

 _Bonnie tried to respond, but words seemed ever farther from her grasp as a delicious pressure built within her and pushed her higher and higher. She felt Nik's lips on hers and kissed him with equal fervor as her legs gripped him ever closer._

 _The world fell away as they came together; her walls clamping down on him as they rode out their release. Bonnie welcomed the weight of his body as Nik shuddered beneath her hands and kissed her sloppily._

 _Nik felt Bonnie's fingers run through his damp hair as she held him close._

" _I love you too," she panted finally; her heart again feeling full to bursting._

 **#**

 _Nik watched from his sunken tub as Bonnie stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror; her hands piling her hair atop her head and securing it._

 _She turned toward the tub and took his outstretched hand as lowered herself to sit between his legs. The heat of the water soothed her aching muscles as she leaned back into his chest._

 _Nik kissed a trail from her shoulder to her earlobe; smiling at the contented sigh that escaped her._

" _Thank you," Bonnie said, half turning in his arms to face him; the water sloshing around._

" _For what, Little Witch?"_

 _Bonnie smiled at the strange but still kind of cool endearment he'd given her months ago. The fact that months later he still insists that she put a spell on him that day at the bank made her cheeks warm._

" _For…I don't know…being patient with me, I guess," Bonnie continued slowly. "I mean, I know I've said it before but—why are you looking at me like I'm being ridiculous?" She finished as she tilted her head at his expression._

" _Because you're being ridiculous," Nik answered indulgently as his fingers drew lazy circles on her thighs._

" _No, I'm not. I'm—"_

" _You are my heart, Bonnie," he countered, stopping her. "Why would I be impatient with my own heart?"_

 _The question was asked so matter-of-factly that Bonnie quickly felt tears prick her eyes which were already welling up._

" _Don't…" Nik warned in feigned seriousness. Her skin was flushed as a pair of tears quickly fell when she grinned at him._

" _You're already starting to leak," he complained with a smirk. "If you keep this up, you're going to burst."_

 _Bonnie laughed at that before she surged forward and kissed him hard; her arms winding round his neck. Nik stopped her when she tried to pull away; deepening a kiss she'd intended to be quick and transforming her mirth into moan filled with need. Her nipples pebbled against his chest and when he finally broke the kiss, the ache that had begun in her core became a throb in protest._

 _Sensing her thoughts, Nik released her from his grasp only to quickly stand up and step out of the tub; rivulets of water coursing down his muscled frame almost lovingly._

 _Bonnie was so distracted by the action that she was unprepared for the next one. Her eyes bulged in surprise when he reached down without preamble and hauled her out of the tub; unceremoniously tossing her wet and wriggling body over his shoulder._

" _Nik!" She shrieked with laughter as he carried her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom; water dripping and splashing everywhere with each movement. "We need to dry off!"_

" _That's what tongues, are for, love," Nik explained, his voice rising above her laughter._

 **KBKBKBKB**

The feeling of Matt's lips on her knuckles pulled her from her reverie as they walked hand in hand down Elm Street. He'd been back for a few weeks now and they were finally starting to fall into a kind of rhythm when it came to spending time together. The transition from platonic friends to potential intimates had its share of awkwardness, but they were finding their way together as the new normal of their lives settled in.

She and Luka were waist-deep in new inventory for tourist season while Matt was either teaching or preparing for his interview. But regardless of their equally busy schedules, they made it a point to spend as much of their free time together as possible.

Today was one of those days as the high school had a half-day of classes and Luka had the day off at the shop. They'd met at the Grill for lunch and a few games of pool before deciding to stroll around downtown Mystic Falls until the buzz from all the beers wore off.

With the picnic weeks behind them, they'd seemed to have gotten a handle on what Bonnie now called _The Nik Situation_. She and Matt had talked as soon as they'd gotten a moment alone and he'd seemed to come away from it sketching out the delicate boundaries between their relationship, her co-parenting with Nik and his and Nik's presence in Henry's life. It was a lot to ask of someone and she'd told him that if navigating all of that was too much, she'd understand if he just wanted to be friends. He responded by quoting Grams' favorite saying: "In for a penny; in for a pound," and kissed her until butterflies seemed to bounce around her insides.

She hadn't bothered telling him of Nik's wanting her back. Why should she? It didn't matter because she'd been plain as day with Nik at the picnic. It didn't matter what he wanted, not anymore; what mattered was what she wanted. And what she wanted was the settled and loving peace that she knew came with being with someone like Matt; not Nik's bullshit.

"What the hell kind of name is The Little Witch?" Matt asked suddenly when they rounded onto Elm St.

Bonnie's head snapped up at the question, "What did you say?" She asked.

"I asked what kind of name is The Little Witch?" Matt repeated, nodding at something past her shoulder.

Bonnie followed his gaze until she found Nik standing outside of was had formerly been known as the old Fell Building. Beside him stood his old cellmate Marcel and they were currently engaged in directing the placement of a sign above the new awning over the first floor windows.

"I mean it's a good name for a blues bar," Matt continued. "It's…strange, but also kind of cool. Wonder where he got it from?"

Bonnie ground her teeth in irritation as she read the sign for herself; the memory of Nik's voice calling her that rising unbidden. Nik suddenly turned as though he'd heard not only Matt's comments but her thoughts and spotted them. Bonnie knew that it was impossible for him to have heard them from their distance across the street, but she still straightened her shoulders and all but dared Nik to shout an explanation over to them.

Instead Nik simply nodded and tipped an imaginary cap before returning to his sign hanging.

"I've no idea," Bonnie replied finally before gently tugging at Matt's arm to get them moving again.

 **#**

"Man, I didn't think it was possible, but she gets prettier every time I see her," Marcel said, as he watched Bonnie and Matt continue on down the street.

"I told you so," Nik replied tersely, following the man's gaze. Since the picnic he'd had a handful of encounters with Donovan, all of them tensely cordial, despite the high school teacher's best efforts at ease. He assumed a discussion had been had at some point and that Bonnie's misguided suitor was now under the impression her personal life a lot less complicated than it actually was. She'd likely assured him of her interest—though it would have been unnecessary. What little Nik seen of Matt, he's seen enough to know that the boy would have accepted nearly any sort of complication if Bonnie was the reward in the end.

That was the problem.

But it was also the solution.

"So what's the plan?" Marcel asked after sending the constructors off to lunch. Since he'd arrived in Mystic Falls, he'd taken over a significant amount of work being put into build out of the bar after Nik offered to make him a partner. Right now Marcel handled the majority of the communication with the contractors, while Nik dealt with licenses, permits and the like.

"There is no plan, per se," Nik answered. Bonnie and that band-aid she called a boyfriend didn't stand a chance; he knew it as well as she did. All that mattered now was making sure Matt knew too.

"I'll have to play it by ear with those two for now," he explained. "Find the proper button to push and then lean on it when the time is right."

"Is that it?" Marcel scoffed, unimpressed.

"No," Nik answered. "While I'm keeping an eye on them, I'm going to need your help with distracting a dissenting voice." Pearl had been right; between Elena and Caroline, the former most definitely the more agreeable of the two. The sale of the Fell building had gone smoothly and he suspected that should he show any interest in another property brokered by her, she wouldn't be as averse to working with him as she had been.

"The blonde?" Marcel guessed, thinking of the long-legged beauty Nik pointed out to him a couple of weeks ago. She was sexy and she knew it and she carried herself with the terrifying grace of a god-level ball buster.

 _She was very, very, very hot._

"Caroline Forbes," Nik nodded in answer. "Be careful with that one, mate. Women like her will castrate you with their teeth if you cross them," he warned, noting Marcel's eager grin.

"Not only don't I intend to cross her, I'm looking forward to keeping her occupied," Marcel stated with a clap of his hands.

"Good," Nik replied, still watching as the subject of his plans disappeared around a corner. Elena would land on the side of objectivity but Caroline was a proud proponent of obstinacy.

"Something tells me that Bonnie is going to need the ear of her friends sooner rather than later and I'd prefer one be less available to her than the other."

"I feel ya," Marcel nodded. "But I still don't see why we haven't run up on ol'dude in the meantime?"

"I mean that guy," he continued. "He's just like this… _ball of gauze_. I've shat things more interesting than this guy. It's like…kicking his ass would finally give him a story to tell."

Laughter erupted between them as they headed back inside.

"He's one of her life-long friends," Nik explained. "As loyal as she is, she'd be devastated if she lost that friendship because of their little experiment. And she's already had enough devastation for one life time. If it weren't for her, I'd just crush him like a bug and have done with it. So no, we won't be kicking around the ball of gauze."

"Besides," Nik continued aloofly and reached for a nearby canteen. "None of this is his fault. He's the hapless zebra wandering into a conflict between lions."

"Seriously?" Marcel asked, incredulous at the analogy.

"I think it accurately describes our dynamic," Nik replied, his tone imperious.

Marcel shook his head ruefully as he chuckled, "Out this many months and still full of shit."

 **BKBKBKBK**

Matt's truck slowed to a stop in front of The Little Witch. While no official date had been announced, there were several notices on the windows that promised a grand opening during summer.

Nowadays there always seemed to be a whirlwind of activity surrounding the old Fell Building and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. He was very curious; about the bar and the guy that owned it. Especially the guy that owned it.

Nik Mikaelson.

He and Bonnie's ex couldn't be any more different. He was a small town high school teacher still paying off his student loans. He had a mother who was just as much of a deadbeat as his father and a sister who made chaos a personal hobby.

Meanwhile Mikaelson was a world-travelled bank robbing rich guy. Nik didn't seem like he'd be Bonnie's type at all; but having known her his entire life, Matt knew that there was no way she would have married him if she didn't love him—let alone have a kid with him.

 _How'd he pull that off? How'd he get Bonnie Bennett to fall that much in love with him?_

It was a question that he'd been asking himself since the picnic. Bonnie had been very clear that her only concern when it came to her ex-husband was figuring out how to co-parent Henry and that the past was exactly that; the past.

It made sense. After everything Mikaelson had done, it made sense that she wanted nothing to do with him beyond his connection to their kid; but again, he'd known Bonnie his entire life and he knew just as well as anyone when she wasn't being completely honest with herself.

It wasn't his place to speak on it and he knew that a lot of his curiosity about their marriage came from somewhat selfish place.

But he'd always had an eye for Bonnie. She got him in a way that most didn't.

When they were kids they bonded over being the only two of their friends who didn't have the picture perfect family life. They were the ones who got summer jobs out of necessity rather than novelty and thought of college in terms of financial aid packages rather than important life experiences.

She'd always been the prettiest girl he'd ever met and she and Ms. Sheila had been there for him when his own family was nowhere to be found, but he never managed the nerve to tell her that what he felt for her went well past the bonds of friendship. Her friendship had been so dear to him back then; too dear to risk the drama that always came when love mixed with teenagers.

But now they were adults and from the moment Bonnie came back to town, he'd gone out of his way to show her that he wanted to be there for her in whatever way she and Henry needed. And when he finally asked her out and she said yes, he gave himself permission to believe that he could have the girl he'd daydreamed about since he was twelve.

He cut the engine and reached behind him for child-sized backpack resting in the back seat before he climbed out.

He finally got the girl… _so why didn't it feel like it?_

 **#**

Nik sat at a table, hemmed in by a mountain of invoices when he heard a knock on the front door. He didn't bother to hide his surprise when he found Matt Donovan on the other side.

"Hey, Nik," Matt began. "Sorry to bother you, but since I was heading home, Henry asked me to drop off his art bag. Something about stencils for his room this weekend?"

"Ah yes," Nik answered, taking the bag as he waved him in. "Given all the remodeling going on, Henry insists on taking an active role in the decorating of his room." The living space that was the second floor was nearly complete which meant that not only would Nik be moving out of the Gregory Inn, but that Henry would have another room to call his own.

"Wow, this place is coming along nicely," Matt observed, his eyes scanning the room.

"Indeed; we're on schedule for a summer opening," Nik walked behind the bar that had recently been installed and pulled out a half-empty bottle of bourbon and a pair of glasses.

"My liquor license hasn't been finalized, but would you care for drink?"

Matt nodded as he came to stand at the bar while Nik poured.

"So, how are things?" Nik asked, taking a sip. "Given our proximity in Henry's life, it makes sense to touch base once in a while."

Matt nodded in agreement, "Things are good. Mid-terms are starting at work, I have an interview next month and some of the guys are putting together a team to join an amateur football league. You?" The lightness in his tone belied the awkward tension that had begun to seep into the air from the moment he knocked on the door. Part of him wanted to set his glass down and get the hell out of there and as far away from the questions and the doubts he had whenever Nik was around.

"Bar's opening this summer, plans for the Founder's Ball coming together nicely and Henry has expressed an interest in sculpting." He took note of the set of Matt's jaws as well as the tension in his shoulders. He seemed like he suddenly realized that he was a fly who wandered into a spider's parlor and didn't know if he should try and make a run for it.

He wasn't half wrong.

"You still in love with her?" The question flew from Matt's lips so unbidden that he nearly clapped a hand over his mouth in order to stop any others from springing forth.

"Yes," Nik answered simply, curious as to what Matt's next move would be.

Swallowed another gulp of his drink and waited, expecting Nik to elaborate. When he didn't, Matt nearly kicked himself in frustration. It was clear that Mikaelson wanted Matt to suffer the indignity of asking questions he probably already knew the answers to.

"So...you came back here for her?"

"Of course," Nik replied, as if it were obvious.

"So, what; you expected to just show up and she'd take you back after everything?" The cool certainty of Nik's demeanor was beginning to grate.

"No. I've never expected anything from Bonnie; other than for her to be herself. That's part of the reason she fell in love with me to begin with...but then...you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Matt snapped.

"It means that you're here asking me about the obvious when you should be asking Bonnie. Why do you suppose that is? More afraid of what you'll hear from her than you are of me?"

"I'm not _afraid_ of anything," Matt protested through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I don't think that true," Nik replied. "You and Bonnie have known each other your entire lives, so I won't insult you by suggesting that you don't know her."

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome," Nik answered smoothly as he rounded the bar. "And since you do know her, you know that she's the kind to throw her whole self into everything she cares about: her child, her shop, family...friends... _love_."

"So?"

"So, knowing that...Do you think Bonnie is truly as invested in _whatever_ you two are doing as you are or has she been phoning it in? Noticed how you're all besotted while she's the picture of perfunctory? Feeling like the big bad wolf drove her to settle for a lamb? Baaaaaa," he bleated

Matt's fist shot out and connected with Nik's jaw with bone shaking force.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nik muttered before he lunged forward and tackled Matt to the ground.

They tussled on the floor trading kicks and elbows to the face. Matt's upper body strength was superior and every blow he landed felt like he'd broken something in Nik's body. However, after having survived more than one prison yard brawl, Nik was able to evade the more damaging of Matt's blows while bending and twisting his body in such a way that he was able to wrestle the high school teacher into a choke hold.

"Enough to this!" Nik hissed as Matt tried to claw at the tattooed forearm around his neck. "I refuse to have the first brawl in this place involve someone I don't even despise!" Nik released his hold before planting a boot at the small of Matt's back and giving him a hard shove across the floor.

Matt's breathing was hard as he gasped for gulps of air. He could already feel parts of his face beginning to swell as blood steadily flowed from his nose. He looked up and was bitterly thankful that Nik's face was just as bruised and bloodied as his own.

"What were you planning to do, Matt?" Nik groaned as he tried to catch his breath. "Were you going to hang on and hope that one day she'd give you what you want? _She won't_."

"Why?" Matt panted, "because of you?"

"No. Because the heart wants what it wants and hers doesn't want you," Nik answered as he struggled into a seated position, his left side throbbing from what he was sure were bruised ribs.

"I get it. You love her. But if you aren't getting what you need from her—for whatever reason—then you're wasting your time. Take it from someone who spent 7 years living in an 8x9 cell...time is the most valuable thing there is.

Nik slowly got to his feet and shuffled towards the door. "Now get out before I find a mirror and see what you've done to my face."

He watched as Matt rose, grimacing from his own set of aches and pains and limped his way out.

"Out of curiosity," Nik asked with a smirk; stopping him before he crossed the threshold. "Did she tell you I named this place after her?"

The front windows rattled from the force of Matt slamming the door behind him as he left.

"I'll take that as a no," Nik shrugged to himself.

 **BKBKBKBK**

"Oh my God! Matt!" Bonnie gasped when she opened her front door. She pulled him inside and immediately raced upstairs in search of her first aid kit.

Matt plopped himself down on a chair in the living room as he listened to Bonnie rustle about until she finally reappeared and settled herself on her knees to tend to him.

"What happened, Matt? Who did this do you?" Bonnie asked as she carefully began cleaning his face.

"Your ex-husband," Matt said quietly.

" _Nik did this_?" Bonnie gasped, her anger already beginning to flare.

"Well it's not like I didn't punch him first."

Bonnie sat back on her heels, her face a mask of confusion. "I don't understand."

"He still loves you, you know," Matt replied.

"That doesn't matter," Bonnie said with a headshake.

"No, it doesn't," Matt agreed. "The only thing that matters is how I feel about you and how you feel about me. So how do you feel about me, Bonnie?"

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked warily. "I mean...we're trying this. We decided to give this a shot, right?"

Matt smiled ruefully. " _We're trying this_. _We're giving this a shot_. Is being with the person you love really supposed to sound like ordering a new menu item?"

"Matt, I-"

"I love you, Bonnie," Matt said. "I'm in love with you and have been for a long time. You're the most amazing person I've ever met in my life and not a day goes by where the thought of you makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Do you feel the same way about me…at all?"

Matt felt himself deflating when Bonnie wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Do you feel the same way about him?" He asked.

"I thought you said the only thing that matter was how we feel about each other," Bonnie pointed out, unable to keep the edge out of her voice.

"It is. I've told you how I feel. I'm still waiting to hear from you."

"Well what do you want me to say, Matt?" Bonnie demanded, scrambling to her feet.

"I love you, Matt," she continued. "Am I in love with you? No, I'm not and quite honestly that's a good thing because it's not all it's cracked up to be. Being in love is painful and messy and over in an instant. It's a waste of time."

"Your ex-husband said the exact opposite."

"Of course he did; he's not the one that got burned," Bonnie replied softly; turning away to stand next to her picture window. "Look, Matt…I can see where this is going and you're not wrong for wanting what you want...but I can't give you that. I don't think I can give anyone that anymore."

Her stomach twisted in knots as pain and disappointment settled into Matt's features. If anyone deserved all the love in the world it was Matt Donovan and all tonight had done was show them both that he deserved better than what she could give him.

"I know I'm an asshole," she continued. "I just to want to lose you because of this."

Matt winced at a stitch in his side as he stood and joined her in front of the window.

"You are an asshole," he agreed sadly. "But you won't lose me. We've been friends for a lot longer than we've been anything else. I'm just gonna need some time, y'know?" She was a dream; _his dream_. And waking up from her was the very last thing he wanted to do.

 **#**

Bonnie marched down the sidewalk carrying a whiskey bottle she'd brought from home. After Matt had gone home, she simply couldn't be there anymore. The place seemed too small to hold everything she felt. There was sadness at the defeated look in Matt's eyes as he kissed her forehead and left, confusion over how quickly everything had unraveled and anger at the person who'd pulled the damn string.

She could never be angry with Matt for wanting all the bells and whistles of being in love. He'd always been a romantic at heart and in the end, he'd learn for himself whether or not it was worth it. In her book, it wasn't. And she was right because in the end, she might be disappointed that she and Matt never really got off the ground, but she was much more relieved that their friendship—while bruised—would survive.

 _Fuck an open bottle law_ , she thought as she drank deeply and continued on her trek. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, she just knew that she was too upset to be at home risk trashing the place. And that's really all she wanted to do right now. She wanted to smash things and punch people in the smug faces.

 _Ok, maybe not people. A person. She wanted to punch a person in his smug dimpled face._

Why couldn't he just mind his own business? If she and Matt weren't going to work out, they could have found that out for themselves without his fucking input. Where did he get off planting doubts in Matt's head? Nik didn't give a shit about Matt or anything that didn't serve his own vanity and the bottom line was that he simply could not stand to see her with someone else.

 _The selfishness!_ _The arrogance! The unmitigated gall, as Grams would say!_

She continued on, still stewing and weighing the pros and cons of murder, when she finally looked up and realized that she'd made it all the way downtown and over to Elm St. The green lights of The Little Witch's sign were on and flashing like a beacon guiding her towards the source of her rage.

 **#**

Nik swept a pile of broken glass onto a dustpan; the final remnants of Donovan's visit. The high school teacher had stumbled out into the night and Nik was fairly certain of where he was headed with a head full of questions that would insist on answers.

Something told him that Matt would like those answers even less than Bonnie would like giving them.

The only unknown at this point was how Bonnie would respond once she accepted the fact that her budding relationship was now suddenly on life support, with Matt holding the plug.

How long would it take for her to lay the blame at his feet? How long before she came seeking her pound of flesh?

He climbed the stairs to his newly furnished loft and sat at his desk; fully intent to finish reviews his invoices before dragging his battered body to bed.

He glanced over at the security monitor he'd set up in time to see Bonnie walk up to the main entrance; her small hands banging on the door downstairs.

 _How long? Not very long at all, it would seem._

He buzzed her in and waited; listening as she stormed across the first floor and stomped her way up the stair in search of him. Rather than rising to meet her; he continued his work until her heard her in his doorway.

"Bonnie," he said, without turning towards her. "Wonderful to see you, but what brings you to my neck of the woods?

The bottle of whiskey she sent flying at his head smashed against the wall next to him.

Nik slowly turned then to find Bonnie still standing in his doorway; her hair slightly damp from the light rain that began to fall shortly after sunset.

 _There she is_ , he thought as she stood with fists clenched, chest heaving and absolute murder in her eyes; she literally trembled with a rage that seemed unfathomable from one so delicately made. It emanated from her and filled every square inch of his vast living space in a fiery backdraft of unrestrained anger.

 _Good_.

He preferred taking on this Bonnie: the one stripped of diplomacy and decorum; the one stripped of her ability to bury her feelings for the sake of others; the one stripped of Matt Fucking Donovan and left with no other choice but to confront the source of her wrath.

He recalled when Pearl explained in passing the differences between Bonnie, Caroline and Elena when pushed too far:

She said that Caroline was the quickest to anger and would shoot you dead in the street if pushed her far enough.

Elena, she said was more moderate in temperament but fully capable of setting in motion a plan to poison you before apologetically explaining to you why it is you're dying.

But Bonnie…she was the slowest to anger-her limit being farther out than most. But once she reached it?

 _Scorched earth_.

So be it.

" _How…dare…you?!"_ She practically growled.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're referring to, love," he replied, keeping his tone light.

"What did you say to him?" Bonnie demanded, stalking towards him as he stood.

"Oh you mean, Matt?" He asked with feigned obliviousness. "Well since I am opening a bar, I thought I should get into the habit of offering advice. I did the boy a favor."

"He is not a boy!" Bonnie thundered "And what you did was take it upon yourself to interfere in a part of my life you no longer have a right to!"

"What I did," Nik argued, coming closer "was point out that I'm not the one in the way of the kind of happiness he wants, _you are_."

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, I believe I do and based on you being here, Matt clearly agreed."

He trapped her wrists in his hands when she lunged at him and held her fast.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked as she struggled against his grip. "Haven't you done enough? You got to ruin my life then and you won't be happy until you ruin my life now? Is this some kind of game to you?!"

"The only game here", he snapped back. "Is the one where you keep avoiding the fact that you're angrier with yourself than you are with me!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about the fact that you still love me!" Nik shouted at her. "Despite every reason why you shouldn't, you still do and that's what's pissing you off more than anything! It doesn't matter how good and kind and _fucking safe_ Matt is, the fact remains that you don't love him the way you love me. I know it, he knows it and you fucking know it!"

Bonnie wrenched her hands from him with surprising force. Before he could fully register that she was free, her right fist connected with his jaw with frightening accuracy and whipped his head around. He hunched over and tasted blood as filled his mouth and dripped from his lips.

He looked up and waited for his eyes to refocus, watching as his wife stood above him with her fists still tightly clenched.

 _This was it_. There was really nothing left to say. From the moment he arrived he told her every truth and she in turn aired every grievance. The rift between them was beyond words and could not be sealed with them.

"Good," he said finally, sounding almost pleased as his tongue licked blood from his lips. "Now we're finally getting somewhere."

She lunged at him with her fists flying; battering him about the chest and shoulders. She was remarkably strong for such a small woman but he absorbed each blow as a torrent of curses punctuated every strike.

She wanted to hurt him; to make him feel every ounce of the pain he'd inflicted on her. She wanted him broken and crying and searching for help. The fact that he simply stood there while she wailed on him on seemed to enrage her further until he finally grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and held her fast against a wall; his face a hairbreadth from hers.

"Burn me to ash if it makes you feel better; I'll still come back and love you more than anything," Nik said through gritted teeth before his lips pressed hard against hers.

Bonnie squirmed in his grasp; her blood pounding in her ears as she kissed him back. There was nothing warm or gentle in it for either of them as he pressed his body against hers. When he finally released her shoulders, her hands were at his shirt; tearing it open while his found the hem of her skirt and pulled it up roughly.

Bonnie felt the sting of her panties being ripped away before her feet left the floor and her legs wrapped around his waist.

She tore her lips away from his and gasped loudly as he entered her. Hands that wanted to shove him away clutched at his back instead as his lips found her neck.

She heard the buttons of her shirt land on the hardwood floor and hated the way her body welcomed him back into her as hips mindlessly urged each thrust to be harder...faster.

This was wrong and it didn't solve anything; but as she sank her teeth into his shoulder and felt her body tighten around him, she didn't care. She was still angry; still hurt and more confused than ever. But in the middle of that chaos, was something she hadn't felt in seven years:

 _Alive_.

 **#**

Bonnie awoke with a start.

 _No! No! No! No! This did not fucking happen! THIS DID NOT FUCKING HAPPEN!_

A glance over her bare shoulder said otherwise.

Clutching an errant blanket to her, she wrapped it around her body and crept from Nik's bed; praying he wouldn't wake up and destroy whatever outside chance she had of this being a bad dream.

She hunted around in urgent silence for her clothes, her eyes constantly darting back to the bed for any sign that he was waking.

"Your skirt landed somewhere over there," Nik offered, breaking the silence and freezing her in her tracks.

Bonnie turned her head to find him awake and pointing towards his desk; the smuggest of smiles on his face.

"But I'm afraid that neither your knickers nor anything else survived."

Nik's eyes tracked her as she stalked over to his closet and angrily yanked one of his shirts from a hanger and put it on. She then marched over to his desk and retrieved her skirt; still not daring to look at him.

Jamming her feet into her flat shoes, she ran frustrated fingers through tousled hair.

"This didn't mean anything," she hissed finally before she stormed out; the sound of her footsteps fading quickly.

Nik smiled at his still open front door.

"Still stubborn as a mule," he mused fondly before grabbing the pillow she'd passed out on after their night of fucking each other senseless. He tucked it under his head with a sigh and waited for her scent to lull him back to sleep.

 **KBKBKBK**

Caroline and Elena slid into a booth at the Mystic Grill before ordering a carafe of orange juice. They'd met earlier that morning for a long overdue jog through downtown Mystic Falls and out to Wickery Bridge. Elena called Bonnie to join them, but her phone kept going to voicemail.

The exercise had done them good and now they sat loose-limbed and ravenous.

They were about to order breakfast when Caroline's phone began rang.

"Hey, Bon," the blonde answered. "Wait, what? Ok slow down. Slooooow dooooowwwwwn. Where are you?"

Elena looked at Caroline quizzically and only received a confused shrug in return as she poured herself a glass of juice.

"No, I'm at the Grill with Elena," Caroline continued. "Ok just calm down and head over to Elena's and we'll meet you there."

The waitress arrived as Caroline stuffed her phone back into her pocket and requested the check for the carafe.

"What the hell was that about?" Elena asked.

"I'm not sure," Caroline replied. "Bonnie called from a pay phone over on Elm all freaked out. Something about having ruined everything and that she doesn't have her car and needs to talk to us."

The both proceeded to chew their bottom lips thoughtfully. What was ruined? And why was she down on Elm at this time of morning? And why was she so freaked out?

The waitress returned and left their check when it came to them.

 _The Little Witch_ was over on Elm.

"She fucked him, didn't she?" Caroline asked finally, reaching for her wallet.

" _Oh yeah,_ " Elena nodding, already grabbing her things to leave.

A/N:

Guest- Nope, Bonnie and Henry have not met any of the Mikaelson's...yet. There will be at least one that turns up much later.

Guest: LOL Ms. Pearl is your Auntie Dinah AND my Aunt Dot! She's also become my favorite OC that I've written for fic because of it.

I'm super happy that everyone enjoyed the church scene. Scenes with multiple characters or smut scenes are the ones that take me the longest and freak me out the most.

Now that I can take a bit of a break as far as the writing of my original work, I'm also going to be posting up an update for Kissed by Fire as well. The summer months are always great for me because they give me waaaaaaay more time to write.

Just wanted to say that I appreciate everyone's feedback/input/reviews and I hope you're still enjoying this fic because I've got some cool stuff lined up for these goofballs.

Also, please be sure to check out Altered Carbon by thefudge is grumpy (the show she drew her premise from is awesome too) and No One Hears You Say My Name by Anastasia-G and Gigolo by Elsac2

Until next time!


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